Tory police chief Caroline Henry banned from driving after breaking law five times

A Conservative police and crime commissioner (PCC) has been banned from driving after being found guilty of five separate motoring offences. Caroline Henry, 52, who was elected to run the police service in Nottinghamshire last year, was banned from driving for six months and ordered to pay a £2,450 fine.

The five separate speeding offences took place within the space of just 12 weeks, including two offences on consecutive days. The Tory commissioner, who whose silver Lexus car has a personalised number plate, told a district judge: “I’m really sorry.”

The offences were committed while she was campaigning to be police and crime commissioner for the area and also while she was in post.

District Judge Leo Pyle said of the offences: “What they show is that you are driving at consistently above the speed limits.” The court heard that speed cameras had clocked the PCC driving at speeds as high as 40mph in a 30mph zone.

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Elected police and crime commissioners were introduced in England and Wales by the coalition government’s 2011 Police Reform Act, replacing local police authorities, which had overseen forces since the 1960s.

PCCs are elected on a party political basis. Ms Henry’s sentencing comes just months after the Metropolitan Police issued a string of fines to officials in Downing Street, including the prime minister Boris Johnson, for lawbreaking during lockdown.