Don’t ban me from driving, I get abuse on train pleads BHS boss
FORMER BHS boss Dominic Chappell pleaded to keep his driving licence yesterday saying: “Train passengers swear at me!”
Chappell, who bought the retail chain for £1 just a year before it crashed, claims he faces “strong language” from rail commuters over its demise.
Magistrates rejected his plea and banned him for six months for driving at over 60mph on a 40mph road in April, two weeks before the company went into administration.
The former bankrupt with an income of £5,000 a week had argued it would be a “stretch” to hire a chauffeur or take taxis from his rural home to meetings in London.
Presiding JP Jenny Gove was not impressed and told him: “You are the one who has to be punished.”
Chappell, 49, who has competed in the Le Mans 24-hour race, was at the wheel of a £75,000 Range Rover when police clocked him doing 63.9mph on a 40mph road.
He already had 10 points on his licence for speeding when he was pulled over in Andover, Hants, Aldershot magistrates heard.
Chappell’s manor house in the village of Winterborne Clenston, Dorset, is 20 miles from a rail station and two miles from a bus stop.
On four days a week, he attends meetings with two Parliamentary committees and the pensions regulator dealing with the fallout from the collapse of BHS.
Michael Levy, defending, said: “Given the isolation and his particular commitment at the moment, is it not an exceptional situation he finds himself in? It may be there is a genuine public interest in this defendant helping these people as much as he possibly can.
“Clearly if he is not able to do that the whole process is going to be more difficult and drawn out.”
He would have to carry boxes of documents on public transport if he lost his licence, Mr Levy said.
But Ms Gove said Chappell’s speeding was “very excessive” and he would suffer no “exceptional hardship”.
She said: “You can either stay in London or leave your paper work with your lawyers.”
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Chappell, who admitted speeding, was also fined £665 and ordered to pay £150 costs.
The businessman bought high street chain BHS from Sir Philip Green in 2015 through his company Retail Acquisitions.
Last month he denied that his £2.6million pay package contributed to the demise of the brand.
BHS’s collapse left 11,000 people out of work and a £571million black hole in its pension fund.
Chappell, who has no retail experience, has apologised to BHS staff and insisted he made every effort to turn the ailing company around.
Outside court, he said: “I was speeding and I shouldn’t have been... I am sorry for that.”