Guy Ritchie handed driving ban after being filmed texting at wheel by Hyde Park cyclist

Film director Guy Ritchie has been banned from driving for six months after a cyclist filmed him texting at the wheel of his Range Rover.

Ritchie, 51, whose movies include Sherlock Holmes, Snatch and Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, was spotted typing a message on his iPhone as he drove through Hyde Park.

Cyclist Mike van Erp told the Met and sent in a video file, called “Man typing on his mobile phone whilst behind the wheel of his car”, to support the allegation.

In a statement Mr van Erp said: “I spotted this driver texting on his phone. I stopped and whilst waiting for traffic to clear could clearly see the driver typing on his phone. I then crossed to the driver’s side where I saw his iPhone lit up with the classic blue and grey message bubbles of Apple iMessage, with text, and a message in process of being typed but not sent.”

Ritchie, 51, was spotted typing a message on his iPhone

The incident happened at about 1pm on November 3 last year. In the video, Ritchie is waiting in traffic backed-up through the park.

He realises he is being watched and winds down his window, saying: “Hello my friend.” Mr van Erp replies: “I don’t think you should be using your text messages while you are driving. I saw you doing it back there as well.”

Ritchie then pulls away slowly as the traffic queue moves forward. He confessed to police that he was the driver in the video and was then told he would be prosecuted.

Court papers obtained by the Evening Standard show Ritchie already had nine points on his driving licence, from three previous speeding offences in March 2017, and February and December last year.

He pleaded guilty in writing to the latest offence, and was banned from driving for six months by Bromley magistrates on Tuesday. Ritchie, the former husband of singer Madonna, is now married to model Jacqui Ainsley. He gave the Georgian townhouse in central London which he bought for £6 million in 2010 as his address to the court.

The case was dealt with behind closed doors under the Single Justice Procedure, to avoid a full court hearing, with a court official and a magistrate assessing the papers.

Ritchie was not required to attend.

Ritchie confessed to police that he was the driver in the video and was then told he would be prosecuted

His lawyers wrote to say the director was not contesting a driving ban and offered no mitigation for the offence. Ritchie pleaded guilty to using a handheld mobile phone/device while driving a motor vehicle on a road.

He was given six points on his licence, taking the total to 15, and was ordered to pay a £666 fine, as well as £166 in prosecution costs and court fees.

Mr van Erp, 48, told the Standard that he had started filming and reporting drivers on a GoPro helmet camera after his father was killed in a road crash while riding a motorcycle.

His footage has led to scores of drivers facing prosecution. On the day he reported Ritchie he filed complaints about three others. He said: “I had no idea it was him. I pulled up beside him on my bicycle and told him he was using his mobile. He said he had stopped in traffic. Drivers should not be doing this and people like me serve as a deterrent.”

Ritchie with wife Jacqui Ainsley
Dave Benett

Ritchie was caught out in a similar way to his friend David Beckham, who was also given a six-month driving ban last year for texting while driving.

Beckham, who made a cameo appearance in Ritchie’s 2017 fantasy epic King Arthur, was also spotted by a member of the public, and received a ban at the same court in Bromley.

The Standard contacted Ritchie’s representatives for comment.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in