Bestselling crime writer Lynda La Plante is at the centre of her own legal drama after she was accused of breaking a 20mph speed limit three times in the space of five months.
The 83-year-old author and screenwriter is best known for creating Prime Suspect’s DCI Jane Tennison, a no-nonsense fictional detective who fought against institutional sexism in the Metropolitan Police. But La Plante herself is now battling Scotland Yard in real life, after she was landed with three speeding tickets in quick succession.
Court Showdown Over Speeding Allegations
The writer is set for a court showdown next month, where she could face a ban after she was allegedly caught driving at 24mph, 26mph, and 27mph in a 20mph zone near to her home in Kingston-upon-Thames, south-west London. In a series of notes aimed at court officials and the police, La Plante denounced “very confusing” road signs alerting drivers to the speed limit, and she says cameras are placed too close to signs telling motorists that it is a 20mph zone, giving them little time to slow down.
The award-winning author has also taken the courts to task for making it difficult for accused drivers to obtain legal advice. La Plante, who created hit robbery TV series Widows in the 1980s and brought Prime Suspect to the screen in 1991, was awarded a CBE in 2008 for services to literature, drama and charity.
Details of the Alleged Offences
Court papers show she was first caught speeding at 9.24am on November 2 last year, when it is said her Toyota was clocked at 24mph on the A308 Kingston Hill. Responding to the charge, La Plante ticked the boxes for guilty and not guilty, and asked for a court hearing in her case. “I wish the court to survey the very confusing signs to indicate from 30mph to 20mph,” she wrote. “The speed camera is a very short distance – no more than 10 seconds and with traffic and cyclists overtaking but almost hitting the bumper of my vehicle.” She added that it is “10 seconds to the speed camera”, and there is “no 20mph painted on road”.
The second incident happened at 9.35am on March 5, a short distance along the same road, when the author’s car was clocked at 26mph. In her written response, La Plante suggested she had already tried to pay a fine by cheque to avoid a prosecution, but she went on to be critical of the communications in place. She said she “spent 25 minutes on phone waiting to speak” to an adviser, only to find they “did not speak English”. La Plante also circled a line on the Single Justice Procedure form, which reads: “If you need legal advice, go to: gov.uk/find-a-legal-adviser”. The weblink does not work, and La Plante penned on the form: “No longer available.”
She then faced a third criminal prosecution, over a speeding offence at 10.03am on April 11 after travelling at 27mph past the same speed camera involved in the second offence. In her response, La Plante pleaded guilty and wrote: “I wish to dispute this offence on the basis that the signage warning motorists of a 20mph speed limit is only 10-15 paces from a 30mph zone, on a downward hill. It is impossible to reduce the speed appropriately in that time/distance.”
Potential Driving Ban
In the papers for the third case, a Met Police worker set out that if convicted La Plante would have at least 12 penalty points on her licence, putting her in line for an automatic six-month disqualification. The Met Police has brought all three prosecutions through the fast-track Single Justice Procedure, while responsibility for the speed limit signs and road markings lies with local councils. La Plante is due to appear at Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court on August 3.
