It has been widely reported recently that David Beckham has been disqualified for 6 months for driving while using a mobile phone. The Sun newspaper, with its usual flair for a good headline proclaimed:

BANNED IT LIKE BECKHAM: David Beckham banned from driving for 6 months for using mobile phone at wheel of £100k Bentley

the sun, 9 May 2019

I’m not entirely sure what the value of Mr Beckham’s car has to do with the price of bread but it is true that he was disqualified from driving at Bromley Magistrates Court for a period of 6 months. What is not accurate is to say that it was for driving while using a mobile phone. Mr Beckham received six points for the offence. He was thereafter disqualifed for 6 months because those points meant he had accumulated 12 points within a 3-year period. Had Mr Beckham had less than 6 points, therefore, he would not have been disqualified.

Bromley Magistrates Court where David Beckham was disqualified

So is the answer to the question in our headline “no”? Well not quite. It is possible. The Road Traffic (Offenders) Act 1988 makes clear that the court can impose a period of discretionary disqualification. That, however, is unusual and it is not what happened in this case. In all the time that I have been defending drivers accused of driving while using a mobile phone, the driver has never been disqualified unless either (a) I have requested it or (b) the driver has been on 6 or more points and therefore disqualified for the accumulation of points.

The Sun’s report also stated that Mr Beckham “tried to save his licence by arguing that he only had three points”. I am not entirely clear what has been argued here. However there is a common misconception that, if points have been removed from your licence since the offence but before you are sentenced, that you can avoid disqualification. That is incorrect. It may be that Mr Beckham’s lawyer was arguing a technical point. However the general rule is that the points which count are the points you had at the time of the offence, not at the time of sentencing. So if you had six points at the time of the offence but they have been removed by the time of sentencing, you are treated as having 6 points.

There are only two ways to avoid a 6-month disqualification if that is the case. The first is to argue that such a disqualification would cause exceptional hardship. If successful this can mean that disqualification is avoided entirely. The second is to try to persuade the court not to impose points at all but to impose a short period of discretionary disqualification instead, hence there are times when I have requested such an outcome. Neither argument is easy.

The silver lining for David Beckham is that his 12 points will be wiped clean after he has served his ban and he can get back to driving that “£100k Bentley” with a clean licence.