David Beckham has been banned from driving for six months, after being caught using his phone behind the wheel.
The former footballer was slapped with the ban after receiving six points on his on license and a £750 fine at a hearing he attended at Bromley Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Beckham pled guilty to the charge after a member of the public reported him to police, having seen him using his phone while driving his Bentley near Great Portland Street in London last November.
He only spoke in court to say his full name, date of birth and his west London address.
After the verdict was given, Beckham was also ordered to pay £100 to prosecution costs and a £75 surcharge fee within seven days.
The star first entered his plea by post last month, when the case was considered in court through an administrative process known as a single justice procedure, which is not open to the press or public.
The procedure was introduced across England and Wales in 2015 as a means of freeing up court time by allowing magistrates to quickly deal with low-level offences which do not warrant prison sentences.
But the hearing was adjourned to the same court on Thursday “to show cause”.
Two months before he was reported for the offence, Beckham was criticised after avoiding prosecution on a speeding charge because of a technicality.
The former England captain used the help of celebrity lawyer Nick Freeman, who has previously been dubbed “Mr Loophole”, after being caught driving a loaned Bentley at 59mph in a 40mph zone in Paddington last January.
While he admitted the charge, Beckham did not face further action because a notice of intended prosecution (NIP) was not received until one day after the statutory 14-day time limit.
After the trial at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court, Freeman said that Beckham was “very relieved with the verdict and very happy with his legal team”.
However, he faced criticism from road safety charity Brake for “shirking his responsibility” as a role model for dodging the charge.
Freeman also assisted Beckham in overturning an eight-month driving ban in 1999 after arguing that the footballer was trying to escape a paparazzi photographer.
