Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Lucy Needham

David Beckham pictured back behind the wheel after driving ban is lifted

David Beckham has been spotted behind the wheel for the first time in six months after his driving ban was lifted.

The former footballer, 44, took his Land Rover Defender for a spin in London on Tuesday morning with daughter Harper in the passenger seat.

The dad-of-four was after being caught with his phone on his knee as he drove his £100K Bentley.

District Judge Catherine Moore also gave David a £750 fine and added 6 points to his licence for the offence, which happened last November.

At the time he already had six points from two previous speeding offences.

David Beckham was spotted driving his Land Rover Defender after his six months driving ban was lifted (LDN PIX / BACKGRID)
The dad was seen driving around London on Tuesday morning (LDN PIX / BACKGRID)

Judge Moore said: "I take into account it was slow moving traffic but that's no excuse.

"It still creates a risk to others. I disqualify you for six months and that starts immediately. That's no driving a car or a motorcycle for a period of six months."

Prosecutor Matthew Sprat said: "On 21 November last year at about one o'clock in the afternoon at Great Portland Street the defendant was seen on his phone while driving a motor vehicle.

"Instead of looking straight ahead he was looking at something in his lap."

The ex footballer's youngest child Harper was in the passenger seat (LDN PIX / BACKGRID)
David Beckham arrives at Bromley Magistrates' Court on 9 May 2019 (Phil Harris / Daily Mirror)

Beckham's defence said driving is a pleasure for the star, but said that he "accepts" his children would be "deprived" of his ability to do the school run.

David shares children Brooklyn, 20, Romeo, 17, Cruz, 14 and Harper, eight, with wife Victoria, 45.

Gerard Tyrell, defending, said: "He enjoys driving, it's something he finds relaxing.

"He is at his children's schools when he can, he picks them up when he can.

"To deprive them of that is something he accepts.'"

David previously entered a guilty plea by post and was reported as showing no reaction to the sentence or overflowing public gallery at Bromley Magistrates' Court.

(Alex Kibble / SWNS.com)

Two months before he was reported for the offence, Beckham was criticised after avoiding prosecution on a speeding charge because of a technicality.

Enlisting the services of celebrity lawyer Nick Freeman, who is dubbed "Mr Loophole", Beckham accepted he drove a loaned Bentley at 59mph in a 40mph zone in west London in January last year.

But he did not face further action because a notice of intended prosecution (NIP) was not received until one day after the statutory 14-day time limit.

Beckham was sent another NIP for the latest incident and was charged on February 5, according to court staff who were unable to access details of a plea.

Mr Freeman also assisted Beckham in overturning an eight-month driving ban in 1999 after arguing that the footballer was trying to escape a paparazzi photographer.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.