Red Dwarf actor found guilty of speeding in London

Daniel John-Jules, commonly known as Danny, denied exceeding the speed limit on Harrow Road close to his home in Kensal Rise, north-west London, on July 22 last year.

A trial at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on Thursday heard his two children, aged 13 and 15, were in the car with him.

Giving evidence in court, Police Constable Archie Morrison, of Metropolitan Police, said John-Jules was aggressive'' after he was stopped on Harrow Road, which has a speed limit of 30mph, at around 12.20am.

Pc Morrison, who was in the passenger seat of a marked police vehicle with Pc Jack Hockton, said the actor undertook them "at speed'' in his Jaguar car.

The officer said he did not use a speed gun but estimated John-Jules was travelling at 50mph "based on the speed we were going''.

Pc Morrison described how the defendant "leapt out'' of his car after being stopped. He said:

"He was very aggressive, he got out of the car and I immediately noticed he was quite irritated from the manner he approached me.

"I told him to calm down.

"He was clearly not happy to be pulled over.''

The court heard body-worn footage from both officers showing their interaction with John-Jules was not saved and had automatically deleted 30 days after the incident.

Pc Hockton said in his evidence to the court that he drove at up to 60mph to catch up with the actor's car.

John-Jules represented himself in court after he claimed he was notified of the trial over the Bank Holiday weekend.

The 60-year-old said in his evidence that he was travelling home that night after a day out in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, with his children. He said he has been driving down Harrow Road for 40 years and had "no reason to speed up'' to his house, which was "two minutes away''.

He denied undertaking the police car and said he had not been aggressive towards the officers.

"I dispute 90% of what I heard in this court today,'' he said.

"I had been relaxing the whole day, walking around the fields, getting out of London and taking the kids to see the sites.

"I was not tired - we were having a laugh, joking and talking about where I met my other half.''

When he was asked by prosecutor Zara Khan at what speed he was driving, John-Jules said:

"I was travelling behind cars crawling along the road.''

He said he believed the police car was travelling at 20mph, and that he "picked up a bit of speed'' to get past them.

After hearing all the evidence, Deputy District Judge Samantha Mace found him guilty of speeding.

She said there was not sufficient evidence to show John-Jules exceeded a speed of "anything like 60mph'', but added: "I am satisfied that at some point you did exceed 30mph and that's sufficient to be found guilty.''

She fined the actor £220 and ordered him to pay £620 court costs and a £34 government surcharge. He also had three penalty points added to his driving licence.