Richard Hammond, 56, has been fined a total of £999 by Telford Magistrates Court after being caught speeding twice in three weeks in December 2024. The former Top Gear presenter pleaded guilty through his lawyers to both charges.
Speeding incidents
On December 2, 2024, Hammond was driving his Porsche when he was recorded by a handheld speed camera doing 68mph in a 50mph zone in Pencraig, Herefordshire, just before 1pm. Twenty days later, on December 20 at 11.45am, he was caught speeding again in his Bentley Continental GT, reaching 82mph over the A50 Rudhall overbridge, a 70mph zone.
Magistrate Ann Minton imposed two fines: £333 for the first offence and £666 for the second. Hammond was also ordered to pay £240 in costs and victim surcharges totalling £532, and received seven penalty points on his licence.
Confusion over correspondence
Court documents revealed that the speeding tickets were initially sent to Hammond's Hereford home, a Grade II listed farm estate. However, the letters were returned marked 'addressee gone away'. The TV star was eventually tracked down at his Abergavenny mansion in Monmouthshire, a £2million six-bedroom Georgian property he bought in 2012, where he registers over 30 vehicles.
Hammond's ex-wife Mindy had reportedly sought to secure their £7million Bollitree Castle, an 18th-century home with six bedrooms, a swimming pool, and 20 acres of land, in divorce proceedings.
Additional charges withdrawn
Hammond was also prosecuted for two allegations of failing to identify himself as the guilty driver after allegedly ignoring police letters. In a letter to the court, his solicitor pleaded guilty to the speeding charges but denied the other two offences, stating: 'He replied identifying himself as the driver. He sent the reply by First Class post. He posted the reply himself.'
West Mercia police withdrew those extra charges, as Hammond was convicted for the speeding offences under the Single Justice Procedure, a fast-track court process for low-level criminal cases.
