Software company founder twice caught speeding at 100mph in his £200,000 Lamborghini is banned from driving for six months
- Stephen Beckitt, 40, was caught racing in his luxury Lamborghini Urus V8 Auto
Published: 14:21, 4 April 2024 | Updated: 14:25, 4 April 2024
A wealthy AI software company founder has been banned from driving after he was caught speeding at 100mph twice in his GBP200,000 Lamborghini.
Successful tech tycoon Stephen Beckitt was caught racing at 100mph on the busy M27 at rush hour in his high-powered Lamborghini Urus V8 Auto.
Just eight days later he was clocked speeding for a second time, driving at 99mph on the M3 in his top-of-the-range motor – which can hit 0-60mph in a blistering 3.6 seconds and has a top speed of 190mph.
The businessman – who founded an AI recruitment software company – already had nine points on his licence at the time of the offences last year.
Beckitt, 40, was hauled to Southampton Magistrates’ Court, in Hampshire, and was today disqualified from driving for six months.
Successful tech businessman Stephen Beckitt was caught racing at 100mph on the busy M27 and 99mph on the nearby M3 in his high-powered Lamborghini Urus V8 Auto
Beckitt was riding in his luxury Lamborghini, which can hit 0-60mph in a blistering 3.6 seconds and has a top speed of almost 190mph (file image)
The luxury car retails at GBP194,169, has a four-litre engine, and is said to ‘merge the soul of a super sports car with a SUV’.
The first offence was on the M27 motorway, near Southampton, at 8.27am on March 25, 2023.
Prosecuting, Kirsty Lavery, said: ‘He was recorded travelling a a speed of 100 miles per hour at a 70 miles per hour limit.’
The second offence involved Beckitt speeding at 99mph on April 2 last year at 7.10pm, on the M3 near the Hampshire and Surrey border.
Representing Beckitt, Imogen Cox told the magistrates that at the time of the offence, the motorist had nine points on his licence.
The defence solicitor said: ‘Mr Beckitt is very aware of, and has been fully advised, of your guidelines that if you should tot somebody then you should tot them.
‘He has had no offences since the two offences that you are dealing with and you will know that they were over a very short period of time on a regular road that he was travelling on a daily basis at that time.
‘He apologises profusely for these errors.
‘He accepts that he is going to be disqualified and has been advised by myself not to drive from 10am this morning.’
A totting up ban is a driving ban resulting from getting 12 points on a driving licence, in a three-year period.
Ms Cox said Beckitt earns ‘in excess of’ the maximum fine that can be issued by the Magistrates ‘on a weekly basis’.
Beckitt – who founded an AI recruitment software company – already had nine points on his licence at the time of his offences, the court heard
According to his LinkedIn, the 40 year old – who is currently living in a posh five-storey residential development in Poole, Dorset – founded AI driven recruitment software, SourceBreaker.
In 2020, SourceBreaker was voted the 53rd Fastest Growing Company in Europe – ranking at number 14 in the UK, according to the Financial Times.
Ms Cox continued: ‘[The disqualification] will have a severe impact on other people – he will have to deal with that as it’s entirely his fault.’
Sentencing the businessman, Magistrate Doctor Hobbs said: ‘This is in the middle range and we would therefore add six points to his licence which makes him a tot.
‘So, six points, he already had nine points which makes the total of 15 at the time of the offence and we are therefore disqualifying him as a tot for the minimum period of six months.’
She continued: ‘We are fining him for both offences, GBP2,500 each, we are reducing that by a third for his immediate guilty pleas.’
Beckitt – who did not appear in court today due to childcare issues – was disqualified for a total of six months, for both offences.
He was handed a fine of GBP4,774 which he will have to pay within the next 28 days.
References
- ^ Tom Cotterill (www.dailymail.co.uk)