A police and crime commissioner (PCC) who was elected last year promising to crack down on speeding drivers, has admitted breaking a 30-miles-per-hour speed limit 5 times in 12 weeks.
Caroline Henry, the Conservative PCC for Nottinghamshire, refused to say if she would resign from the position after she appeared before magistrates on May 3.
For administrative reasons the hearing was adjourned until July 19, when Henry will argue two of the offences were because of “emergencies,” one of which stemmed from her being “very concerned for one of her children.”
In May last year Henry, a businesswoman with no prior experience of policing, beat the incumbent, Labour’s Paddy Tipping, by 7,000 votes.
On her official PCC website she said an “effective and efficient” police response to speeding was one of her priorities.
Henry, 52, who campaigned with the slogan “Make Notts Safe” and promised to “reduce crime with action, not words,” admitted to the speeding offences at a hearing in February.
She was caught speeding at between 35 and 40 miles per hour in either a blue Mercedes or a silver Lexus in 30-miles-per-hour zones at four locations in Nottingham in March, May, and June last year.
Two of the offences occurred near a primary school in the city’s Daybrook suburb.
Henry, who is the wife of Nottinghamshire Conservative MP Darren Henry, wrote a letter to magistrates saying she was “very sorry, embarrassed, and ashamed,” and her solicitor Noel Philo said the letter was written on “advice I did not give.”
In a written statement issued after the hearing, Henry said: “For technical legal reasons, the court has constituted that they cannot deal with the case today. I cannot comment on the ongoing case. I will be explaining the context of this matter in due course.”
The post of police and crime commissioner was created by David Cameron’s coalition government, under the 2011 Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act.
They replaced police authorities and have the power to hire and fire chief constables, but critics at the time said they just introduced an expensive extra layer of bureaucracy.
In May last year Jonathon Seed, 63, was elected as Wiltshire’s police and crime commissioner but was unable to take up the office after he was accused of failing to disclose a drink driving conviction from the 1980s.
The election had to be run again, in August, at a cost of £1 million ($1.25 million), and Philip Wilkinson was elected as Wiltshire’s new PCC.
