Beckham lawyer fails to have speeding case thrown out

A judge has dismissed a submission by a celebrity lawyer that David Beckham has no case to answer over an alleged speeding offence.

Nick Freeman, dubbed “Mr Loophole”, had argued that “it would be unsafe to allow these proceedings to continue” owing to what he claimed was a lack of admissible prosecution evidence.

District Judge Barbara Barnes told him a tribunal could reasonably convict the former England footballer on the evidence and ruled there was a case to answer.

Beckham, of Holland Park in west London, is accused of driving a loaned Bentley at 59mph in a 40mph zone on the A40 in Paddington shortly after 5.30pm on January 23.

The trial at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court heard from four witnesses on Thursday morning regarding the sending of a notice of intended prosecution, which is said to have arrived a day outside the statutory 14-day window.

Mr Freeman is fighting the charge on the basis that the notice, sent on February 2, arrived at Bentley Motors on February 7, a day outside the statutory window and was therefore “defective”.

In his submission he told the court: “If the Crown can’t prove that the letter was sent by first class post then the concept that it arrives in two working days goes out of the window.

“It would be unsafe to allow these proceedings to go any further.”

A not guilty plea to a charge of exceeding a 40mph speed limit in contravention of a local traffic order was entered on August 17.

Former Manchester United and Real Madrid star Beckham was not in court.

The trial continues.