Home Office minister Liam Byrne pleaded guilty today Sutton Coldfield magistrates' court to using a mobile phone while driving.
Byrne, who told the court in a letter that he was taking an important call on a deportation matter at the time, was fined £100 with £35 costs and a £15 victim surcharge. He was also given three points on his licence.
Mr Byrne, 37, the Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill, is a Home Office Minister of State for Borders and Immigration.
In his letter he expressed remorse for the offence and told magistrates he accepted that there was no excuse, and that he should have pulled over to take the call.
Magistrates said that his fine would have been £150, but was reduced because of Mr Byrne's prompt guilty plea and expression of remorse.
**Remember that one express remorse and they will not a few quid off the fine, or does that just apply to members of the government? Also claim that you were taking an important call, after all the fact that MP used it as an excuse is good enough for the rest of us.
The offence took place on July 6 this year, when Mr Byrne drove along Tyburn Road, Birmingham, using a hand held mobile phone, contrary to section 41 of the Road Traffic Act 1998, the court heard.
Cynthia Barlow, chairman of crash victims' charity RoadPeace, said: "It's the law that you should not use a mobile phone while driving and he knew perfectly well he should have stopped and pulled over while making a call and he did not.
"The law is just taking its course as it should.
"But I hope other people will use it as a reminder that you shouldn't use a mobile phone while driving because many people still do."
he Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) said Mr Byrne should have known better.
Kevin Clinton, head of road safety, said: "The Home Office is responsible for the law and its Ministers should be well aware of it and set the correct example.
"Far too many lives have been lost needlessly because of mobile phone calls and whether you are on a hand-held or a hands-free phone you are four times more likely to crash.
"It is good to see him being treated in the same way as other motorists and it shows that people who flout this important law do get caught and punished.
"Enforcement is vital, with more than 126,000 people being penalised for the offence in 2005.
"Mobile phone calls are still costing lives on our road. People should switch off their mobiles when they get into their cars so they will not be tempted to answer an incoming call."
The Home Office declined to comment.
**Although there was this:
Mr Byrne has campaigned vigorously on road safety since entering Parliament, tabling a petition in 2005 from constituents calling for tougher penalties for dangerous drivers.And he sends in a piss poor letter offering an apology and trying to weasel out of his punishment, what an arse.
He once told a parliamentary committee that the most dangerous drivers were "serial potential killers" and said he was "shocked" at the leniency of sentences handed down to them.
His website lists safer roads among the eight priorities on his Action Plan for Hodge Hill.
He sat on the parliamentary committee which shaped the 2006 Road Safety Act, which increased fixed penalty fines for driving while using a mobile.
Tags: New Labour, Cool Britannia,
Liam Byrne
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