EastEnders actor Shane Richie blamed “baiting” from paparazzi as he was banned from driving for six months after being caught speeding.<\/p>\n
Court records revealed the 62-year-old, real name Shane Roche, was hit with the driving ban on 23 September after he admitted the offence in Reigate, Surrey.<\/p>\n
He was also fined \u00a3500 at Guildford Magistrates’ Court and ordered to pay \u00a3320 in costs and a surcharge.<\/p>\n
Richie, best known for playing Alfie Moon in the BBC soap, is already awaiting trial over a separate alleged offence of drink-driving in Harlow, Essex.<\/p>\n
In a note to the court, regarding the speeding offence, Richie said he had been pursued daily by photographers due to his “very public divorce”.<\/p>\n
The actor accused the press of “constantly baiting me” for months in an attempt to get an angry reaction on camera.<\/p>\n
“This is not an excuse for going five miles over the limit, but just a reason why I may have sped up on that particular road,” he said.<\/p>\n
Richie was caught on camera driving a Ford at 35mph (56km\/h) along Reigate Hill – which is a steep climb leading to and from the nearby M25 junction – on 15 March.<\/p>\n
In his note to the court, Richie apologised for the offence and said: “Over the past several months I’ve been followed from my place of work in Borehamwood (Hertfordshire) where I film sometimes six days a week by our British tabloid press\u2026. to my home.”<\/p>\n
He described being followed into Reigate and to the supermarket.<\/p>\n
“It’s no secret now that I’m going through a very public divorce and for the last several months the British press have suspected this and have been constantly baiting me and almost always looking for a reaction from me to sell their newspapers,” Richie added.<\/p>\n