Minister Caught Using Phone While Driving on Wandsworth High Street
Tom Tugendhat says he was using device to navigate
Tom Tugendhat
A government minister and former candidate for the leadership of the Conservative party faces a possible ban after being caught using a mobile phone while driving on Wandsworth High Street.
49-year-old Tom Tugendhat who sits in cabinet as the security minister was spotted using a device while at the wheel of his Skoda 4X4 on 4 April this year.
A police officer says he saw him holding the phone in front of himself in his left hand. When questioned by police he said he was using it to navigate.
He was issued with a fixed penalty notice and, according to a report in the Evening Standard, he was also required to surrender his driving licence. As he already had six points on his licence, the offence was referred to Bromley Magistrates’ Court with the case due to be heard this Friday.
A spokesman for Mr Tugendhat said, “Tom was stopped by police in April this year for holding his phone while driving.
“He accepts that holding his phone while driving is an offence. Tom immediately put himself on a driving course of his own volition.
“He received the court documents six months later and has entered a guilty plea. He apologises unreservedly and will accept the outcome of the case.”
Mr Tugendhat, who lives in Clapham, is understood not to have informed ministry officials about the offence until after he was appointed as a minister by Liz Truss in September.
After his failed leadership bid, he backed Liz Truss as Prime Minister but kept his ministerial post when Rishi Sunak took over.
Educated at St Paul’s School in Barnes after which he went on to study Theology at Bristol, he is the son of a High Court judge.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
November 2, 2022