Robert Jenrick banned from driving for six months after speeding

Robert Jenrick has been banned from driving for six months for travelling at almost 30 mph over a temporary speed limit.

Mr Jenrick, the immigration minister, pleaded guilty of the late-night motoring offence in February, telling a court he “sincerely apologised”.

He was driving at 68 mph in a 40 mph zone on a stretch of the M1 on Aug 5 last year.

The MP for Newark, Nottinghamshire, was also fined a total of £1,639 for the offence at a court hearing on Tuesday.

Court papers showed the minister claiming by way of mitigation that he thought he was still below the national speed limit, because he did not see roadwork signs imposing a lower 40mph restriction.

'I can only sincerely apologise'

“I would not have knowingly exceeded the speed limit in this manner,” he wrote to Northampton Magistrates’ Court.

“I can only sincerely apologise for having done so on this occasion.”

Mr Jenrick’s Land Rover was caught by police cameras on the southbound stretch of the M1, between junctions 18 and 19, just after 11.30pm.

Earlier that evening, he was a guest on BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions, which was being hosted at Wakefield Cathedral in West Yorkshire.

The case was brought by prosecutors under the so-called single justice procedure, which allowed Mr Jenrick to plead guilty in writing rather than appearing in court.

Single justice procedure cases are dealt with in secret hearings before magistrates and cannot be attended by the press and public, as part of an effort by ministers to clear the backlog of criminal cases post-pandemic.

Jenrick fined previously

The Evening Standard 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.

He was fined £1,107, and ordered to pay a £442 victim surcharge and £90 in costs.

Mr Jenrick is the latest senior politician to be punished for motoring offences in recent months.

Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, was given a fixed penalty notice by police in January after he was seen on video not wearing his seatbelt in the back of his car.

Tom Tugenhadt, the security minister, was banned from driving in November after he was caught using his phone at the wheel.

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.”