Not so clever now! Millionaire couple caught speeding 'forgot' which one had been driving - so magistrates fined them £1,280 and gave them six points each

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated:

When their Land Rover was clocked speeding, millionaires Ian and Jayne Oliphant-Thompson insisted they couldn't remember which of them had been driving.

They probably thought that would be the end of the matter - but magistrates had other ideas.

Now the couple, who could have been looking at a mere £60 fine and three penalty points, may be regretting their memory lapse - after being ordered to pay fines and costs of £1,280 and sharing 12 penalty points.

Ian Oliphant-Thompson
Jayne Oliphant-Thompson

Double penalty: Ian and Jayne Oliphant-Thompson both couldn't remember which one of them had been driving when their Land Rover was clocked speeding

Mr and Mrs Oliphant-Thompson, both 43, who have three children, failed to attend the hearing at Exeter Magistrates Court where the penalty was handed down.

Philip Alcock, prosecuting, said: 'We cannot be sure who was driving and they have not been able to assist.

'Even a married couple, if they habitually use the vehicle and swap around driving responsibilities, they need to have something in place to ensure they know who was driving.

'They have to satisfy and explain why they are not able to, but they are not here to do that.'

The couple's top-of-the-range car was recorded doing 40mph in a 30mph zone in Exmouth, Devon, on March 20, 2009, just a few miles from the couple's large gated home in the village of Exton.

Photographic evidence did not identify the driver and, following notification of the offence, Mrs Oliphant-Thompson, the registered keeper of the vehicle, began an exchange of letters with Devon and Cornwall Safety Camera Partnership insisting she could not be sure who had been behind the wheel.

She wrote: 'It might have been me or might have been my husband.

'We both drive the vehicle and were both driving it on that day. We know the driver was one of the two of us although we genuinely cannot make any positive ID. To continue to ask us is erroneous and immoral.'

Her husband, who enjoys flying helicopters and fast jets and once described himself as 'the most impatient man on earth', provided a similar answer when police wrote to him.

When several more letters still failed to elicit an identification, the decision was made to prosecute them both.

Mr Oliphant-Thompson founded his firm, the New Futures Group, 18 years ago.

The multi-million pound company has bases in Devon and London. It specialises in creating innovative ways to re-brand and expand organisations.

Mr Oliphant-Thompson charges at least £5,000 per day for his services and has provided advice for businesses including Gap, Virgin and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

His wife is an interior designer who has opened lifestyle and homeware shops in the Devon towns of Topsham and Budleigh Salterton under the Jotty's brand.

She also travels the UK styling rooms for exhibition organisers and photo shoots.

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