Former Top Gear co-host Richard Hammond was fined a total of £1,771 after police tracked him down to Wales following two speeding offences in Herefordshire last December, when he drove a Porsche and a Bentley over local speed limits.
The Porsche and Bentley Speeding Incidents in Herefordshire
West Mercia Police brought two prosecutions against the 56-year-old television presenter after capturing him on camera driving two luxury vehicles at illegal speeds within a three-week window while driving in Herefordshire last December. Just 20 days later, on December 22 at around 11.45am, an overhead camera recorded his Bentley Continental GT travelling at 82mph in a 70mph zone on the A50 Rudhall Overbridge.
Court papers detailed that Hammond was subsequently prosecuted for the two speeding offences alongside two further allegations that he had ignored police correspondence and failed to identify himself as the driver in a letter to the court, the presenter’s solicitor pleaded guilty to the speeding charges. Through his lawyer, Hammond admitted to the speeding counts while contesting the failure-to-identify allegations. His solicitor submitted that He replied identifying himself as the driver. He sent the reply by First Class post. He posted the reply himself.
Police ultimately withdrew the two extra charges.
How Police Spent Weeks Tracking Hammond Across Properties
Delivering the fines proved difficult for law enforcement because notices sent to Hammond’s properties were repeatedly returned. West Mercia Police mailed the speeding tickets to a Grade II listed Herefordshire castle bought by Hammond in 2012 and a £1 million farm estate near Hereford. Postal workers returned the envelopes stamped with the notation addressee gone away
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Investigators eventually located the former motoring show host at his £2 million mansion near Abergavenny in Wales. Court documents noted that more than 30 vehicles are currently registered at the Welsh property, underlining the presenter’s well-documented automotive collection.
Magistrate Penalties and Court Proceedings
The case was processed through the Single Justice Procedure, a fast-track mechanism allowing magistrates to handle low-level criminal matters behind closed doors. Hammond was among 39 defendants convicted during a session overseen by magistrate Ann Minton at Telford Magistrates’ Court.
Minton handed down seven penalty points to Hammond’s driver’s licence alongside a total financial penalty of £1,771.
A Decades-Long History with Speeding and High-Performance Cars
The recent convictions add to a long public history of motoring infractions and high-speed close calls for the television personality. Hammond rose to global prominence co-hosting the BBC series Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and James May between 2002 and 2015, before the trio moved to Amazon Prime Video to launch The Grand Tour.
During their television tenure, speed frequently brought legal and professional complications. In 2013, Hammond and Clarkson received a three-month driving ban in France after authorities caught them speeding while filming an episode of the BBC program. Longtime viewers also recall Hammond’s severe 320mph jet car crash in September 2006 while filming Top Gear, an accident that left him in a medically induced coma.
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