A government minister has been disqualified from driving after speeding on the M1. Immigration minister Robert Jenrick was travelling at almost 30mph over the temporary speed limit in place at the time.
Mr Jenrick, 41, previously admitted to travelling at 68mph in the temporary 40mph zone between junctions 18 and 17 on the southbound M1 last August, the Courts and Tribunals Service Centre said.
At a hearing on Tuesday, Mr Jenrick, the former housing secretary, was disqualified from driving for six months and fined a total of £1,639. In a statement after the sentencing, Mr Jenrick said he was not aware a temporary speed limit was in place and that he would not "knowingly exceed the speed limit".
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The case was dealt with through a Single Justice Procedure at Northampton Magistrates’ Court, which allows a magistrate to rule on criminal cases seen as minor in a closed court, meaning the public and press cannot attend. They also allow defendants to plead guilty or not guilty in writing which meant that Mr Jenrick did not have to attend court in person.
The minister, who has been in his current post since October when Rishi Sunak became prime minister, was fined £1,107, and ordered to pay a £442 victim surcharge and £90 in costs.
According to reports in the London Evening Standard, Mr Jenrick, the MP for Newark, was travelling after an appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions at Wakefield Cathedral when he was caught by a speed camera in his Land Rover at around 11.30pm on August 5.
Responding to the sentence, Mr Jenrick said: “I accept the court’s decision. I was driving below the national speed limit on an empty motorway, with no road works in sight.
“I now understand that a variable speed limit had been applied, which I didn’t see. I wouldn’t knowingly exceed the speed limit.”
The Evening Standard had previously reported that Mr Jenrick was fined £307 and handed three penalty points in March, for speeding on the A40 in west London in August 2021.
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