The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, has been fined by a London court for speeding. On the same day as he intervened in the House of Lords on the government’s illegal immigration policies, a London court fined him £510 and placed three penalty points on his driving licence. Under English law if a motorist accrues 12 points within a three year period they can lose their licence.
Welby’s Volkswagen Golf was caught by a speed camera on a road adjacent to the River Thames as he was driving towards his official residence at Lambeth Palace, London’s Evening Standard newspaper reported.
A speed camera on 2 October 2022 recorded the archbishop driving at 25 miles along the Thames embankment near Lambeth Palace, five miles per hour above the posted speed limit. After no payment was made, the case went to traffic court.
A spokesman for Lambeth Palace told the British press the archbishop had attempted to satisfy the initial £300 fine, but the on-line system used to pay the fine was not working.
“He has all the paperwork to prove that he has tried to pay. Admin errors seem to be causing problems,” his spokesman told AFP.
