UK

Ex-One Direction star Liam Payne banned from driving after admitting speeding

Liam Payne. (Isabel Infantes/PA)
Liam Payne. (Isabel Infantes/PA) Liam Payne. (Isabel Infantes/PA)

Former One Direction star Liam Payne has been banned from driving after admitting a speeding offence.

The singer was reportedly travelling at 43mph in a 30mph zone on the A40 Westway flyover in Shepherd’s Bush, west London, in a Ford Ranger pick-up truck on February 24.

The 30-year-old previously pleaded guilty to the offence and was banned from driving for six months when he was sentenced at Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court on October 9.

He was also fined £293, told to pay a surcharge of £117 and £90 in costs.

BBC Music Awards – Genting Arena
BBC Music Awards – Genting Arena Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles and Niall Horan of One Direction (Joe Giddens/PA)

The Evening Standard newspaper previously reported that Payne wrote to the court to apologise, saying: “I did not realise the speed limit and apologise for speeding.”

The newspaper printed a further part of his letter that appeared to reference a request for his financial status, which said: “I am self employed and cannot provide the information at this stage.

“However, I will pay any fine imposed within 14 days.”

In August, he postponed his scheduled tour of South America after suffering from a “serious kidney infection”.

Payne said the infection was something “I wouldn’t wish on anyone” and had been instructed by doctors to “rest and recover”.

He was part of the original line-up of the boy band, formed in 2010, alongside Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Harry Styles.

According to court documents, Payne, of Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, did not attend court for his sentencing hearing as it was dealt with through the Single Justice Procedure – which allows the court to deal with case based on written evidence alone.