Richard Hammond, the former Top Gear presenter, received a £999 fine following two separate speeding incidents in Herefordshire. The 56-year-old was first detected driving his Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo at 68mph in a 50mph zone on the A40 in Pencraig on 2 December. Approximately three weeks later, on 22 December, he was clocked driving his Bentley Continental GT at 82mph in a 70mph limit on the M50 Rudhall Overbridge, also located in the same county.
Hammond entered guilty pleas to both speeding charges through his solicitor at a magistrate hearing last week. Two additional charges related to ignoring police correspondence and failing to identify himself as the driver were subsequently withdrawn by West Mercia Police. At the hearing, Magistrate Ann Minton handed down a total penalty of £1,771, which included fines of £333 and £666 respectively, £240 in court costs, and victim surcharges of £532. Hammond also received seven penalty points on his driving licence.
Difficulty in locating Hammond arose after initial speeding notices were sent to properties registered under his name in Herefordshire. The letters were returned marked “addressee gone away.” Police eventually established contact through his residence near Abergavenny in Wales, where the court was informed that more than 30 vehicles were registered. According to court records, Hammond had also faced an additional driving offence allegation in August of the previous year.
This incident marks another traffic violation for Hammond, who previously received a three-month driving ban in France in 2013 while filming an episode of Top Gear with co-host Jeremy Clarkson. Hammond presented the BBC motoring programme alongside Clarkson and James May between 2002 and 2015.
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