KEY POINTS:
With a maximum speed of only 10km/h, and safety features such as bumpers and wing mirrors, Rex Whittle's main mode of transport looks innocent enough.
But the 50-year-old Whangarei disabled beneficiary is facing a charge of assault with a weapon over what police allege is a clear case of scooter rage.
Whittle is accused of deliberately driving into two girls playing at the city's Kensington Park last Monday afternoon.
Sergeant Neil Pennington said Whittle "took exception" to the girls, who were playing on a cricket pitch. One, a 14-year-old, suffered bruising on her thigh, knee and ankle.
Whittle _ who told the Herald on Sunday he had "severe brain damage" after being gay-bashed in Wellington 12 years ago _ strenuously denies the allegation.
He said he was chasing ducks off one of three cricket pitches at the park when he saw the two girls playing on another, newly laid playing surface.
Whittle said he yelled at the girls to get off the pitch while he trundled across the park on his ACC-provided scooter but said he would never intentionally hurt anyone.
"A red-headed one started jumping over the pitch which had just been beautifully rolled," he said. "I was fuming.
"She stood in the mud ... by a water sprinkler and slid in the mud on to my scooter."
Half an hour later, police arrested Whittle.
Since the incident, the hotel manager of 25 years has been banned from the park, which he previously visited most days.
And the Parkinson's disease and epilepsy sufferer said he didn't know if he had enough mental willpower to fight the charge in court.
"I'm not going to have this go on for months. What can I do? The police say they believe her and her friend.
"If she wants, I can give $10 a week if that's the end of the story."
Whittle is due to appear in Whangarei District Court tomorrow.
SCOOTER RAGE
AUGUST 2006: Picton resident June Bridgman, 89, paid $2000 reparation to Elva Ellison, 71, for running into her.
August 2004: Nathan W Newport, 17, took a scooter on a joyride after stealing it from a rest home in New Plymouth.
December 2000: An elderly Kapiti Coast man was run over by his own mobility scooter.
- CLAIRE RORKE
