Minister admits careless driving

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Deputy Prime Minister Harriet Harman has been fined £350 after pleading guilty to driving her car without due care and attention in Dulwich, south London, last year.

The deputy leader of the Labour party was not present at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court, where a second charge of driving while using a mobile was withdrawn.

Ms Harman had been visiting a Camberwell tower block where six people died in a fire when police questioned her on July 3. Prosecutors decided there was enough evidence and public interest to take her to court, which is extremely embarrassing for the QC, member of the Privy Council and former Solicitor General.

Magistrates gave the minister three points on her licence and ordered her to pay a £350 fine, £75 costs and a victim surcharge of £15.

Had Ms Harman been given the maximum legal punishment, she could have received a £5,000 fine, up to nine licence points and a driving ban for careless driving and a £1,000 fine, three points and a ban for driving while using a mobile phone.

They're both summary offences which can only be tried in a magistrates' court.

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