Justine Miliband veers to the right ... and breaks countless cycling laws in the process!
SHE is a top barrister believed to earn more than £200,000 a year … so you might expect Justine Thornton to be a very careful observer of the law.
But while cycling to and from work last week, the wife of Labour leader Ed Miliband committed offences that could have led to her being fined thousands of pounds – including jumping red lights, travelling the wrong way down a one-way street and even riding on the pavement.
Miss Thornton’s spate of pedalpowered law-breaking began on Tuesday when she left the London barristers’ chambers where she specialises in environmental law.
She collected her bike – a £279.99 model by Victoria Pendleton Somerby – and set off on the four-mile journey to the £2.5million north London mansion she shares with her husband.
But within seconds she was violating the Highway Code, ignoring clear one-way signs and turning right despite left-only signs. Miss Thornton, 44, even rode the wrong way along a stretch of
‘She will be more careful in future’
road where westbound and eastbound traffic are separated.
She failed to obey traffic signs and appears guilty of careless – if not dangerous – cycling.
On Wednesday Miss Thornton kept off her bike to help Mr Miliband with campaigning. But on Thursday, less than a minute after leaving her front door, she came to a short section of road forbidden to all traffic.
Miss Thornton ignored two prominent no-entry signs and a CCTV camera to cycle right through. Soon afterwards, she twice pedalled straight through red traffic lights. And as she neared her destination, she mounted the kerb and rode straight over the pavement.
Ignoring a traffic light can incur a fine of up to £1,000, careless cycling a fine of £1,000, and cycling on the pavement £500.
Last night a Labour spokesman said: ‘Justine believes it is very important that everyone obeys the Highway Code and she will be more careful on her bike in future.’