Jemima Goldsmith fined over speeding car paperwork

Television producer and socialite Jemima Goldsmith has been convicted and fined £1,000 after a car registered in her name was caught speeding in north London.

The 52-year-old failed to respond to Metropolitan Police letters after a Mini Clubman was caught travelling at 46mph on a 40mph stretch of the A1 in Hampstead on 28 August last year.

Goldsmith offered up the name of the guilty driver who had been using her car, but missed the deadline to respond to avoid court proceedings. She was convicted of failing to give information relating to the identification of the driver of a vehicle when required.

Goldsmith blamed major renovation work on her £10m Kensington home for her delayed response.

"Due to ongoing construction works at the property where my car is registered, which made access tricky, the original letter was mislaid by builders and I was unaware of its existence until October," she wrote in a note to Westminster Magistrates' Court.

"As soon as it was received, I completed and returned the form immediately."

Court papers showed Goldsmith named a man called Anthony Reilly, who lives in Switzerland, as the person who was driving the Mini.

Her response was dated 4 November, six days after the final police deadline and two months after the first notification of the speeding ticket.

In a letter to the court, Goldsmith also referenced the death of her mother, Annabel Goldsmith, in October at the age of 91.

"I was less on top of things than I am normally," she wrote. "I fully accept that a fine is due."

Goldsmith was convicted by magistrate Gladys Famoriyo of failing to give information relating to the identification of the driver of a vehicle when required.

The magistrate imposed a £1,000 fine, six penalty points on Goldsmith's licence and ordered her to pay £130 in costs and a £400 victim surcharge.

She was prosecuted in a Single Justice Procedure, a fast-track court process which does not require defendants to come to court.

Goldsmith, known professionally as Jemima Khan, is the founder of a television production company and has worked as a screenwriter and magazine editor.

She married former Pakistan cricket captain Imran Khan in 1995, and they have two children together.

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