How Mr Loophole turned boy-racer Beckham into Mr Smug
Star agrees he did 59mph in a 40 limit – but is cleared because police letter was late
DAVID Beckham escaped a speeding conviction yesterday on a technicality after a letter from the police arrived one day late.
Despite the former England football captain admitting he was behind the wheel of the Bentley driving almost 20mph over the limit, lawyer Nick Freeman, dubbed ‘Mr Loophole’, saw his client cleared.
It also emerged during the hearing that it was the second time in two days Beckham had been caught speeding.
The 43-year-old was not at court for the decision yesterday, but after the verdict he said: ‘I am very relieved and very happy with my legal team.’
He did, however, have time to post a picture of himself stuck in London traffic to his 51million Instagram followers.
A speed camera had caught the fatherof-four doing 59mph in a 40mph zone on the A40 near Paddington, central London, on January 23 at around 5.40pm, the court heard. However, the judge ruled Beckham was not guilty of the offence as he did not receive the fine within the 14 days as required by law.
Mr Freeman told Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court that his client was failed by ‘the system’. The lawyer said the socalled ‘ notice of intended prosecution’ should have been received by February 6 at the latest because of the two-week statutory limit.
Prosecutors told the court that the document was sent by the Metropolitan Police on February 2, which should have allowed for it to have been received in time. But workers at Bentley Motors Limited, the registered owners of the £200,000 vehicle loaned to Beckham, said it was not received by them until the following day, on February 7.
Colette Hollies, a legal assistant at Bentley, said she was ‘ 100 per cent confident’ the letter arrived on February 7 when she stamped the date on the letter.
Mr Freeman said: ‘ He [ Mr Beckham] has accepted he was driving, he has accepted the speed – that is not in any way in dispute.
‘I realise that may cause some disquiet but that’s a matter for Parliament. This is a statutory issue. If the law needs to be changed, so be it.
‘It might be that no-one is at fault. There may be inexplicable delays in a sorting office in London or a sorting office in Crewe.
‘It might simply be a fault of the system – we don’t know.’
Mr Freeman also revealed how a speed camera detected the same Bentley car travelling above the speed limit on January 22. Bentley employees noted that Beckham was the driver of the car at the time and the letter from the Metropolitan Police setting out the offence was received on time.
Mr Freeman said he revealed details in order to prove that prosecution ti l letters tt could ld b be sent t within the 14-day limit but would not reveal what action, if any, it had lead to.
But ruling on the January 23 case, District Judge Barbara Barnes said: ‘What I find is on the balance of probabilities it’s more likely than not that the notice was actually not served on the registered keeper within 14 days as required.’
After the ruling, Beckham boarded the Eurostar to Paris to meet up with wife Victoria for the French capital’s fashion week. The star faced a backlash last night as road safety campaigners criticised the decision to hire an expensive lawyer to fight the charge.
Joshua Harris, from the road safety campaigners Brake, said: ‘It is hugely disappointing to see a role model like David Beckham shirking his responsibility and getting off a speeding prosecution t on a mere technicality.’
‘At the speed Mr Beckham was r reported to be travelling... He should count himself very lucky n no incident occurred and tragedy was avoided.’
Claire Armstrong, from the Safe Speed campaign, said: ‘The problem it sets is that it says if you have enough money you can live a different life to everyone else.’
Mr Freeman, who has trademarked the ‘ Mr Loophole’ nickname, has represented a coterie of sporting stars, including Sir Alex Ferguson as well as former England footballers Frank Lampard and John Terry, and ex-England cricket captain Andrew Flintoff.