Richard Hammond, the former Top Gear host, has been fined £999 after being caught speeding twice in less than a month — driving a Porsche and a Bentley on roads in Herefordshire.
The 56-year-old, who owns a £2 million mansion near Abergavenny and a portfolio of properties including a Grade II* listed castle, was clocked by police on December 2 last year driving his Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo at 68mph in a 50mph limit on the A40 in Pencraig. Just 20 days later, on December 22, his Bentley Continental GT was recorded at 82mph in a 70mph zone on the A50 Rudhall Overbridge.
“Richard Hammond fined £999 for speeding twice in three weeks in a Porsche and Bentley.”
West Mercia Police brought two prosecutions after sending letters to Hammond’s homes — including the castle he bought in 2012 and a £1 million farm estate near Hereford — but the letters were returned marked "addressee gone away." Officers eventually tracked him down to his Welsh mansion, where more than 30 vehicles are registered.
Hammond, nicknamed The Hamster, pleaded guilty through his lawyers to two counts of speeding. At Telford Magistrates’ Court last week, magistrate Ann Minton imposed seven penalty points on his licence and ordered him to pay a total of £1,771: two fines of £333 and £666, plus £240 in costs and £532 in victim surcharges.
The case also revealed that Hammond had been accused of another driving offence in August last year, and was prosecuted for failing to identify himself as the driver in response to police letters.
Hammond, who hosted Top Gear with Jeremy Clarkson and James May from 2002 to 2015 before the trio launched The Grand Tour, nearly died in a 320mph jet car crash while filming Top Gear in 2006. He and Clarkson received a three-month driving ban in France in 2013 after being caught speeding while making an episode.
