Mission Impossible star Simon Pegg is banned from driving for six months after being caught speeding for fourth time in three years
- Actor was clocked well over the speed limit on a north London dual carriageway
- Pegg already had nine penalty points so latest offence triggered automatic ban
- He declared his weekly income as £3,800 and was fined £660 by magistrates
Shaun of the Dead star Simon Pegg has been banned from driving for six months today after being caught doing 63mph in a 40mph zone.
The 50-year-old actor was clocked well over the speed limit on a camera on a north London dual carriageway – his fourth speeding offence within the last three years.
Pegg already had nine penalty points on his licence and the four points imposed for the latest offence triggered the automatic ban at Wimbledon Magistrates Court.
Simon Pegg, pictured behind the wheel in Hot Fuzz, has been banned from driving for six months today after being caught doing 63mph in a 40mph zone
The star, of Essendon, Hatfield, Hertfordshire has appeared in Hollywood blockbusters Star Wars: The Force Awakens; Star Trek and the Mission:Impossible franchise.
He declared his weekly income as £3,800 and was fined £660, with £85 costs, plus a £66 victim surcharge.
He admitted one charge of speeding on the A41 Hendon Way in his blue three-litre Merc on January 20, last year.
Magistrate Ms Deborah Drakesmith announced: ‘We have listened carefully to what has been said and looking at the guidelines we are going to endorse his licence with four penalty points, making thirteen penalty points and will disqualify him from driving for six months.
‘The 63mph reading in near the top end,’ she added, telling the absent Pegg’s lawyer Mr Richard Saynor: ‘I am sure you will give him the disqualification warning as to how serious it is to drive while disqualified.’
Mr Saynor told the court: ‘Mr Pegg pleads guilty and takes full responsibility for the offence and accepts the points imposed will lead to the risk of disqualification.
‘He specifically instructed me that he does not want to use up the court’s time arguing there are exceptional circumstances he should not be disqualified.
‘The driving ban will cause him difficulties, but they will not be exceptional.
The court was told the driving ban would have an impact on Pegg’s wife Maureen, pictured together at the Mission Impossible: Fallout premiere in 2018
‘He accepts the court will make a driving ban and it is something he accepts head-on.
‘You will see in his letter to the court the charity works he undertakes and the impact a disqualification will have on others, particularly the strain it will have on his wife and the increased responsibilities she will have as well as running a household.
‘He is aware that the ban will cause difficulties not only for him, but for others. He does need to drive in his professional life.
‘It is something he deeply regrets and he wants to apologise to others effected by his ban.’
Oxfam’s Celebrity and Ambassador manager Genevieve Willis wrote a reference for Pegg, praising his charitable work, along with his ‘warmth, decency and generosity.’