Learner speeding as he had a lesson

A teenage learner driver has been fined for speeding along a Staffordshire road – while his instructor was sat next to him.

The youth was driving at 52mph in a 40mph zone.

The 17-year-old was caught near Rugeley while behind the wheel on his second lesson.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was caught on a speed camera travelling faster than the limit while behind the wheel in a car owned by Wednesbury-based Driving School International.

Mrs Marijke Holden, chairman of the bench at Cannock Magistrates Court, said it was unfair to give the teenager points on his driving licence because an instructor had been with him.

He was fined £45 and ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge and £40 costs.

"We have found there are special reasons because you were a learner driver on your second lesson on the open road and in a dual control car, supervised by an advanced driving instructor who should have prevented the offence occurring," she told the teenager.

"The driving instructor should also have been prosecuted – however, there is no longer an option for this as such a course is now time barred. If the only person to be punished is the defendant it would be manifestly unfair to endorse his licence."

The court heard the boy was driving along the A51 between Weston and Rugeley on June 10 when he was caught by a camera near Wolseley Bridge.