Beckham beats law with help of 'Mr Loophole'
|Published
David Beckham, wearing a league scarf, salutes a section of the crowd at this official announcement for Miami's MLS expansion team in Miami, Florida. Picture: Reuter David Beckham, wearing a league scarf, salutes a section of the crowd at this official announcement for Miami's MLS expansion team in Miami, Florida. Picture: Reuter
David Beckham escaped a speeding conviction on Thursday on a technicality after a letter from the police arrived one day late.
Despite the former England football captain admitting he was behind the wheel of the Bentley, driving almost 32km/h over the limit, lawyer Nick Freeman, who is dubbed "Mr Loophole", saw his client cleared.
The 43-year-old was not at court for the decision, but after the verdict he said: "I am very relieved and very happy with my legal team."
He did, however, post a picture of himself stuck in London traffic to his 51million Instagram followers.
The judge ruled Beckham was not guilty of the offence as he did not receive the fine within the 14 days, as required by law.
Freeman told the Wimbledon Magistrate's Court that his client was failed by "the system".
The lawyer said the so-called notice of intended prosecution should have been received by February 6 at the latest because of the two-week statutory limit.
But workers at Bentley Motors, the registered owners of the R3million vehicle loaned to Beckham, said it was not received by them until February 7.
After the ruling, Beckham boarded the Eurostar to Paris to meet up with wife Victoria for the French capital’s fashion week.
The star faced a backlash as road safety campaigners criticised the decision to hire an expensive lawyer to fight the charge.
Joshua Harris, from road safety campaigners Brake, said: "It is disappointing to see David Beckham getting off speeding on a mere technicality."
Claire Armstrong, from the Safe Speed campaign, said: "The problem it sets is that it says if you have enough money you can live a different life to everyone else."