Sir Idris Elba, the acclaimed actor and DJ, has been convicted and fined after being caught exceeding a 20mph speed limit on his scooter along Chelsea Embankment in central London. The 53-year-old was prosecuted by the Metropolitan Police for the speeding offence, which occurred last June.
The star admitted to being the rider, but contended that he had not received a fixed penalty fine from the police, thereby denying him the opportunity to resolve the matter out of court. Following representation by specialist motoring offence lawyers, Sir Idris was handed a £147 fine at Westminster Magistrates’ Court last Thursday.
During a hearing conducted behind closed doors, the actor was also issued three penalty points on his licence and ordered to pay £110 in costs, alongside a £59 victim surcharge. Police presented three images to the court, showing Sir Idris riding a BMW moped at 28mph on a stretch of road with a 20mph limit, near Cheyne Walk.
According to court documents, Sir Idris’s moped triggered a speed camera at 10.12am on 21 June last year. A police statement confirmed: 'The speed recorded was 28mph on a 20mph road.' A police staff member stated that Sir Idris 'confirmed that they were the driver/rider at the time' after receiving correspondence from the police.
However, Sir Idris’s lawyers at Patterson Law informed the court that the fixed penalty notice never arrived. Their letter stated: 'Mr Elba initially responded to the Notice of Intended Prosecution to nominate himself as the driver and was expecting to receive a fixed penalty offer. However, the offer never arrived and he therefore never had the opportunity to accept it. Had he received it, he absolutely would have accepted it.'
The prosecution was handled through the Single Justice Procedure, a fast-track process enabling magistrates to deal with low-level criminal cases in private, based solely on written evidence. Sir Idris was not required to attend court for the sentencing.
