The Daily Telegraph

Mr Loophole does it again as speeding Beckham is acquitted on technicali­ty

Former football star ‘very happy’ with his legal team, which argued prosecutio­n notice arrived one day late

- By Jamie Johnson

DAVID BECKHAM has swerved a speeding fine after the lawyer nicknamed Mr Loophole successful­ly argued that despite driving too fast, the notice of prosecutio­n was defective.

The former England football captain had been caught driving a Bentley at 59mph in a 40mph zone and, although the speed was not contested, the fact that the notice arrived late meant that Beckham could not be convicted.

District Judge Barbara Barnes said: “In this particular case and on the evidence I have heard, what I find is that it is more likely than not that the notice was not served on the registered keeper of the vehicle in time.”

Nick Freeman, for Beckham, who had earlier failed to get the case thrown out by arguing insufficie­nt evidence, said: “He is accepting he is driving, he is accepting the speed. That isn’t in any way in dispute. It may cause some disquiet but that is a matter for Parliament. It is a statutory requiremen­t and if the law needs to be changed then so be it.”

The incident took place on Jan 23, just after 5:30pm on the A40 in Paddington, not far from the 43-year-old’s Holland Park home, Wimbledon magistrate­s’ court heard.

Beckham was driving a Bentley Continenta­l, which has a top speed of 207mph and costs at least £156,000.

Beckham was not present at court, but just after 11:30am, during proceeding­s, he posted a photo of himself in a car on his Instagram account with the caption “London Traffic” and an “angry” emoji. It is believed Mr Freeman had no idea about the post.

The lawyer, who has previously represente­d Sir Alex Ferguson, Colin Montgomeri­e and Ranulph Fiennes, gained his reputation as Mr Loophole after fine-tooth combing cases for procedural errors.

Instances of successful cases include spotting spelling mistakes on names, late serving of notices and his client speeding in order to get to a lavatory (Sir Alex Ferguson).

The court case against Beckham, which took more than five hours, came down to proving when the notice of intended prosecutio­n was sent and received. The law states it must be received within 14 days of the alleged offence being committed. Beckham’s lawyer said it arrived on Feb 7, 15 days after the offence and was thus invalid.

Three prosecutio­n witnesses could not successful­ly argue that the letter had been sent in time.

After the case, Mr Freeman passed on a message from his client: “I am very happy with the verdict and I am very happy with my legal team.”

Road safety campaigner­s branded Beckham’s actions as “selfish and inexcusabl­e”, adding that he was putting lives at risk.

 ??  ?? David Beckham yesterday posted this picture of himself in the back of a Range Rover, with the message ‘angry’ and ‘London traffic’
David Beckham yesterday posted this picture of himself in the back of a Range Rover, with the message ‘angry’ and ‘London traffic’

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