The Most Reverend Justin Welby recently pleaded guilty to exceeding the posted speed limit on a road in Lambeth, central London.
UK media reported that Welby was caught speeding at a whopping 25 miles per hour (mph), exceeding the posted speed limit by 5 mph on October 2 of last year. It was not until Wednesday that the official faced the legal music - just a few days after he crowned King Charles III, and anointed the sovereign with holy oil during the king's weekend coronation.
Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court ordered the 105th archbishop of Canterbury to pay £300 fine, a £120 victim surcharge and £90 in legal costs, as well as added points to his driver’s license.
The Archbishop was driving his Volkswagen Golf at a speed of 25 mph in a 20 mph. The 67-year-old was heading towards his residence at Lambeth Palace along the Albert Embankment in central London when he was caught by a speed camera.
Welby was prosecuted through a single justice procedure, and was therefore not required to go to a hearing.
Incidentally, the submitted plea came the same day he spoke to the House of Lords to condemn the British government's Illegal Migration Bill as “morally unacceptable and politically impractical.”
“The Archbishop knows about [the offence] but hadn’t been notified that it had gone to court,” said a Lambeth Palace spokesperson of the speeding ticket. “He has tried to resolve this and pay the fine three times. He has all the paperwork to prove that he has tried to pay. Admin errors seem to be causing problems.”