"The letter from D'Souza on headed House of Lords notepaper acknowledged it was a trivial matter for the Met but said she lived deep in the countryside with no local bus services and unsuitable train schedules. She asked if a ban was a fair response for exceeding the speed limit while we are all still learning what a 20 mile speed actually feels like? D'Souza also questioned if my speedometer or your radar is entirely accurate in recording 21 miles instead of 20?"
"She told the committee that she had been advised by a fellow peer, a former Met commissioner, to write to the relevant chief of the police force and that she had previously met Rowley through the Westminster Abbey institute. The committee found D'Souza took advantage of her privileged position as a member of the house to exert improper influence upon an investigation. No one who is not a parliamentarian would have possessed such an advantage."
Former lord speaker Frances D'Souza wrote to the Metropolitan police commissioner to try to influence a police investigation into alleged speeding offences. She said she feared having to give up attending parliament if banned from driving after exceeding a 20mph limit and used House of Lords notepaper to make the request. She described living deep in the countryside with no local bus services and unsuitable train schedules and questioned whether a 21mph reading could reflect speedometer or radar inaccuracy. The Met considered a criminal investigation but passed the matter to the House of Lords conduct committee, which recommended an eight-week suspension. D'Souza acknowledged the letter was inappropriate, appealed the sanction as unduly severe, said she had been advised by a fellow peer and had previously met Rowley, and was subsequently charged and summoned.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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