A former roads minister has been handed a six-month driving ban after admitting speeding in south London, telling the court he felt "great shame" over the offence. Guy Opperman, 61, already had nine penalty points on his licence from earlier speeding offences in 20mph zones before the latest penalty took him to 12.
Court appearance and guilty plea
Opperman, a former MP for Hexham who served as minister for roads and local transport in Rishi Sunak's government, appeared at Bromley Magistrates' Court on Friday, November 13. He admitted speeding in his SUV in Lambeth months earlier, having been caught driving at 25mph in a 20mph zone in May.
Despite his guilty plea, Opperman argued that a ban would cause "exceptional hardship", telling magistrates he needed to drive his two children, aged two and four, to different nurseries. He said: "Clearly I feel great shame and guilt being here – I'm an idiot."
Exceptional hardship plea rejected
Opperman added that he had "never been [to court] before, never committed anything in my life", and said he was "very much in the doghouse". He also noted that his wife needed to travel to the US for work in March, which would leave him single parenting and make life difficult without a car.
Magistrates overruled his argument. Chair Susan Polydorou said that while the ban was inconvenient, his circumstances did not meet the bar of exceptional hardship, adding: "You do seem to have a propensity to speed."
Fine and wider 20mph rollout
The former MP was ordered to pay £560 in costs, comprising a £307 fine, £130 in prosecution fees and a £123 court surcharge. The Telegraph reported that Opperman was seen cycling away from the court.
In London, 20mph speed limits were introduced through a joint initiative between local authorities, the Mayor of London and the Met Police to make roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists. The lower limit now covers much of inner London, from Hammersmith and Wandsworth in the west to Westminster, Camden and Hackney.
In September, Greenwich Council said it would introduce a "blanket" 20mph limit across all its roads to improve safety. Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster already have 20mph limits on all council-managed roads.
