Gareth Gates 'banned from driving' after being convicted of speeding offences

Pop Idol star Gareth Gates has been disqualified from driving after he racked up four speeding offences in three years meaning his licence was withdrawn

Former pop star Gareth Gates has reportedly been banned from driving.

The Pop Idol singer has been convicted of four speeding offences in less than three years leading to him losing his licence. Gareth, 40, was caught by a speed camera doing 62mph in a 50 mph zone on the M4 in South Wales.

He was requested to appear at Cardiff Magistrates Court over the offence but instead sent an email asking for the case to be dealt with in his absence. Gareth pleaded guilty to speeding in his Range Rover Sport at Port Talbot on April 6.

Gareth - who rose to fame in 2002 when he finished as runner-up on Pop Idol was expected to try and fight being banned from driving by claiming the ban would cause him to suffer "exceptional hardship". However, District Judge Charlotte Murphy was told he withdrew the claim before Thursday's hearing.

As reported by The Sun, Judge Murphy said: "Mr Gates has nine points on his license for three offences of speeding. He will be disqualified from driving for six months." Gareth - who hails from Keighley, Bradford - was also fined £230 but as he pleaded guilty this fine was cut down to £153.

Gareth found himself caught out by a automatic camera device which is situated on the Pentyla Seaway Parade Bridge near Junction 41 of the M4. The star has been caught speeding numerous times previously and almost lost his licence before when accumulated 12 points from four speeding offences in 2017.

Gareth had been caught speeding multiple times as he attended personal appearances and charity events in the UK. Gareth was pulled over close to his Bradford home by police after he was caught doing 47mph in a 30mph zone in his Range Rover.

At the time he escaped losing his licence as he told the court that he would incur a heavy financial loss and that the ban would leave him unable to fulfil professional, personal and charity commitments. The court was told he was a "one-man band, driving himself to engagements with his Range Rover full to the brim with equipment, musical instruments, clothes and outfits". He was fined £1,493 on that occasion.

Earlier this year Gareth made an interesting revelation about his former Pop Idol mentor Simon Cowell as he described a surprising detail of his dressing room. He said: "The first time I went into his office, I walked in and there was a mirror on the wall and it said: 'Yes Simon, you are the most beautiful in the land'," Gareth admitted on the My Dirty Laundry podcast. "I swear this is true. And I was like, 'Wait a minute, is that real?'.

"And he replied: 'Yes darling, it's real'. I have no idea if it was a joke gift or not but I can imagine him looking at himself in it every day. Revealing more about his former mentor, Gareth continued in his interview: "I owe a lot to Simon Cowell. You know, I was his sort of boy from the start in Pop Idol. And I was obviously with his label. We got on really, really well. We bump into each other, every now and again, but he's a great guy."

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