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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Tristan Kirk

Paloma Faith fined £1,000 after being caught speeding at 52mph in her Skoda

Chart-topping singer Paloma Faith has been fined £1,000 after being caught speeding through north London.

The 41-year-old star was behind the wheel of a Skoda when she passed a speed camera on the A10 in Enfield at 52mph, above the 40mph limit.

The singer-songwriter – who signed up as a brand ambassador for Skoda in 2018 - admitted the speeding offence and was convicted behind-closed-doors at Lavender Hill magistrates court on September 5.

After entering a guilty plea in writing, she was ordered to pay a £1,000 fine, plus £190 in court costs and fees. The magistrate also imposed three points on her driving licence.

Faith - prosecuted under her full name Paloma Faith Blomfield – has been a fixture in the music charts since breaking through with her double platinum debut album Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?

Paloma Faith’s car when she was caught speeding (Court)

She scooped the Best Female Solo Artist award at the Brits in 2015 after the release of hit song Only Love Can Hurt Like This, from her third solo album A Perfect Contradiction.

Away from singing, Faith became a judge on the fifth season of ITV’s The Voice and has starred in films including St Trinian’s in 2007.

After linking up with Skoda in 2018, Faith won an advertising award for an acclaimed TV campaign featuring her recording of Make Your Own Kind of Music.

Court papers show Faith was caught out by a speed camera at 11.43am on January 26 this year, as she drove the silver Skoda northbound between Southbury Road and Caterhatch Lane on the A10.

“A Notice of Intended Prosecution was received from Miss Paloma Blomfield who confirmed that they were the driver at the time”, said Jan Schartau, a Met Police caseworker.

In court papers which were sent to Faith’s £2 million home in Clapton, east London, which she shares with husband Leyman Lahcine and their two children, she pleaded guilty and offered no mitigation or excuses for the offence.

The case was dealt with via the Single Justice Procedure, with Faith spared a day in court and prosecuted instead on the papers by a magistrate sitting in a private hearing.

Faith was given until October 3 to settle the court bill, and the DVLA has been notified of three points on her licence.

The Evening Standard has contacted Faith through her agents for comment.

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