Former Top Gear host Richard Hammond was fined £999 by a court after being caught speeding twice in three weeks while driving his luxury cars. The 56-year-old was driving a Porsche when he broke the speed limit on 2 December 2025, and was caught again 20 days later in a Bentley.
Details of the speeding offences
West Mercia Police brought two prosecutions against Hammond, using speed camera images to prove the offences. On 2 December, just before 1pm, a police officer with a handheld speed camera recorded Hammond's Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo traveling at 68mph in a 50mph limit on the A40 in Pencraig, Herefordshire. On 22 December, at about 11:45am, his Bentley Continental GT was clocked at 82mph in a 70mph limit on the A50 Rudhall overbridge in Herefordshire.
Court proceedings and penalty
Hammond pleaded guilty through his lawyers to two charges of speeding at Telford Magistrates' Court. Magistrate Ann Minton handed him seven penalty points and ordered him to pay a total of £1,771, comprising fines of £333 and £666, £240 in costs, and victim surcharges totalling £532. Police initially sent speeding tickets to a Grade II*-listed Herefordshire castle Hammond bought in 2012 and a £1m farm estate near Hereford, but the letters were returned marked 'addressee gone away'. They eventually tracked him down to his £2m mansion near Abergavenny in Monmouthshire, where more than 30 vehicles are registered.
Previous driving incidents
Hammond, nicknamed The Hamster by his TV co-stars, nearly died in a 320mph jet car crash in 2006 while filming Top Gear. He and Jeremy Clarkson received a three-month driving ban in France in 2013 after being caught speeding while making an episode of the show. Court documents also revealed Hammond had been accused of another driving offence in August 2025. In addition to the two speeding offences, he faced two allegations of ignoring police letters and failing to identify himself as the driver.
