{"id":766206,"date":"2026-09-10T13:56:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T13:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/766206\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T13:56:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T13:56:11","slug":"dawn-french-banned-from-driving-after-speed-camera-offence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/766206\/","title":{"rendered":"Dawn French banned from driving after speed camera offence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n  The 68-year-old, best known for playing Geraldine Granger in BBC sitcom The Vicar of Dibley, pleaded guilty to exceeding a 30mph speed limit on a restricted road in England.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Court officials confirmed she was caught by an automatic speed camera on July 11 last year and was disqualified at a hearing at Plymouth Magistrates&#8217; Court on Monday.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oxfordmail.co.uk\/news\/26538065.eastenders-legend-shane-richie-stand-criminal-trial-2027\/?ref=ed_recent\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">EastEnders legend Shane Richie to stand criminal trial in 2027<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  According to the report, French was fined \u00a3600 and ordered to pay a \u00a3240 victim surcharge and \u00a390 in court costs.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The Independent reported that she already had nine points on her driving licence before the latest offence, meaning she reached the 12-point threshold that results in an automatic six-month driving ban.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  French is best known for playing Geraldine Granger in the hit BBC sitcom The Vicar of Dibley.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  While Dibley was a fictional village, much of the much-loved series was filmed in Oxfordshire, giving it a lasting connection to the county.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The actress became a household name playing the warm-hearted and witty vicar Geraldine Granger, a role she held from the show&#8217;s debut in 1994 through a number of specials and revivals over the following decades.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oxfordmail.co.uk\/news\/26535219.eastenders-icon-pleads-not-guilty-court-today-police-arrest\/?ref=ed_recent\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">EastEnders icon pleads NOT GUILTY in court today after police arrest<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The Independent noted that drivers who accumulate 12 or more penalty points within a three-year period are normally given a six-month driving ban.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The report also states that motorists disqualified for 56 days or more must apply to the DVLA for a new licence before they can legally drive again.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The article also referenced another high-profile speeding case involving Emma Watson, who received a six-month driving ban after a speeding offence while studying at Oxford University.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Ms French has not publicly commented on the court ruling reported by The Independent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 68-year-old, best known for playing Geraldine Granger in BBC sitcom The Vicar of Dibley, pleaded guilty to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":766207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-766206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=766206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/766207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}