Channel Four News presenter and Strictly Come Dancing contender Krishnan Guru-Murthy is “ashamed” after being convicted of using his mobile phone while driving through central London, a court has heard.
The TV broadcaster, 53, faced prosecution by police after he was spotted by a passing motorcyclist checking emails while at the wheel of his Tesla.
Despite the incident being caught on camera, Guru-Murthy initially insisted he had not broken the law.
But when facing a trial this week he pleaded guilty and admitted not fully understanding the laws around mobile phones and driving.
“He holds his hands up”, the broadcaster’s lawyer Simon Gretton told Ealing magistrate’s court this week.
“He is a completely law-abiding gentleman and he is ashamed of this.”
A bench of magistrates ordered the TV star to pay a £300 fine, a further £300 in costs, and a £120 victim surcharge. He also now has six penalty points on his licence.
The incident happened on a rain-soaked evening in March, shortly after the Channel Four News show had ended and as Guru-Murthy drove along Marylebone Road near to Regent’s Park and Madame Tussauds at 8.20pm.
Footage from motorcyclist Lukas Kozesnik’s helmet camera shows Guru-Murthy, in the driver’s seat of the Tesla, using the smart phone handset with his left hand as his car was stationary and waiting for the traffic lights to turn green.
Mr Kozesnik said in his witness statement: “The driver noticed me and put the phone down. We then both went on our separate but similar ways.”
When first charged with an offence through the single justice procedure, Guru-Murthy pleaded not guilty, said he wanted to challenge the motorcyclist’s evidence and insisted: “I deny using a mobile phone whilst driving.”
He was not present at court as Mr Gretton made a failed attempt to negotiate a lesser charge with the prosecutor, before entering a guilty plea on the TV star’s behalf. The solicitor said: “Mr Guru-Murthy was driving in the evening and he stopped at traffic lights. The car was stationary, it doesn’t move at any point where the phone is seen to be in his hand. The lights changed and the device was put down before the defendant moved off.”
He said the incident lasted no more than six seconds, and he pointed to a 2022 law change which tightened the rules on mobile phone use by drivers.
“He now understands and accepts that, due to relatively recent changes in the law, you don’t have to be just making or receiving a call or sending a text. You can be doing anything at all with a phone, even when stationary at traffic lights, and this is an offence. The defendant wasn’t very clear about that.”
Guru-Murthy pleaded guilty to using a handheld mobile phone while driving a motor vehicle on a road. He was given 28 days to settle the court bill totalling £720.
