Photo: Instagram / David Beckham
At the beginning of the year, David Beckham was caught doing 59mph in a 40mph zone, but his attorney managed to get him off on a mere technicality.
The former soccer star wasn’t in court when Nick Freeman, also known as “Mr. Loophole,” admitted that Beckham had been speeding. Freeman also argued that the star couldn’t legally be prosecuted because he had been served with legal papers too late.
Prosecutors had 14 days from the day of the offense to serve him with papers, but because the Bentley he was driving was a rental, the papers took longer to reach him, as they were first sent to the dealership that owned the car. By the time the papers reached Beckham, the 14 days had expired.
Though prosecutors insisted that Beckham’s admission of guilt should be enough for a sentence in this direction, Freeman used this loophole and got him out of trouble, without as much as a slap on the wrist. As the Daily Mail notes, this victory in court managed to get a lot of people angry.
Among them are two of the biggest road charities in the UK, Brake and RoSPA. Had Beckham been found guilty, he would have gotten a fine and points off his license, both of which he could afford. Still, he scooped so low as to use a technicality to skirt his responsibilities as a role model.
“It is hugely disappointing to see a role model like David Beckham shirking his responsibility and getting off a speeding prosecution on a mere technicality. He should count himself very lucky no incident occurred and tragedy was avoided,” Joshua Harris of Brake says in a statement to the publication.
“Speed limits are set for a reason. We hope David learns from this experience and understands that his actions could potentially have put his life and others in danger,” Nick Lloyd, road safety manager for RoSPA, believes.
Many commenters on social media are of the same opinion: since money was no issue for Beckham, he should have owned his mistake, paid for it and then learned from it. Instead, he brought disgrace on his status as a role model.
Prosecutors had 14 days from the day of the offense to serve him with papers, but because the Bentley he was driving was a rental, the papers took longer to reach him, as they were first sent to the dealership that owned the car. By the time the papers reached Beckham, the 14 days had expired.
Though prosecutors insisted that Beckham’s admission of guilt should be enough for a sentence in this direction, Freeman used this loophole and got him out of trouble, without as much as a slap on the wrist. As the Daily Mail notes, this victory in court managed to get a lot of people angry.
Among them are two of the biggest road charities in the UK, Brake and RoSPA. Had Beckham been found guilty, he would have gotten a fine and points off his license, both of which he could afford. Still, he scooped so low as to use a technicality to skirt his responsibilities as a role model.
“It is hugely disappointing to see a role model like David Beckham shirking his responsibility and getting off a speeding prosecution on a mere technicality. He should count himself very lucky no incident occurred and tragedy was avoided,” Joshua Harris of Brake says in a statement to the publication.
“Speed limits are set for a reason. We hope David learns from this experience and understands that his actions could potentially have put his life and others in danger,” Nick Lloyd, road safety manager for RoSPA, believes.
Many commenters on social media are of the same opinion: since money was no issue for Beckham, he should have owned his mistake, paid for it and then learned from it. Instead, he brought disgrace on his status as a role model.
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