An MP who criticised drivers for using their mobile phones while driving has been banned from driving for six months after using his phone at the wheel.
Richard Benyon, Tory MP for Newbury, was caught texting while driving his BMW in Islington, North London, in April 2017.
Benyon spoke out about the dangers of driving while using a mobile phone following the incident last year in which four people were killed on the A34 in his constituency in Berkshire because a lorry driver was distracted by his mobile.
Speaking to BBC Radio Berkshire he said: “There are fairly strict – some people would say not strict enough – laws about using mobiles in cars and that is undoubtedly the reason this tragedy happened.
“It’s not just the government’s responsibility, or the police’s, [to stop people using phones]. It’s actually every single one of us, and I’d put myself in that category.”
Mr Benyon said at his sentencing that he “deeply regretted his actions” and there was “absolutely no excuse” for texting while driving. Accepting the court’s judgement, he also mitigated that he was in “stationary and very heavy, slow traffic” at the time.
Pleading guilty to using a mobile phone while driving, Willesden Magistrates Court handed him six penalty points on his licence, fined him £306, ordered him to pay £115 in costs and a victim surcharge.
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Carl Millar is a highly respected and experienced drink driving solicitor who is the principal of Millars Solicitors.
Carl has been a specialist in road traffic law for many years and represents clients from all walks of life and all over the Country. He is well known for the dogged defending of his clients and robust cross examination of police officers and exert witnesses.
With a wealth of expertise in motoring law Carl is well placed to provide advice over the phone and deal with all road traffic matters in a calm and professional way.
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