Stormzy has been banned from driving in the U.K. for nine months after an off-duty police officer caught the rapper using a mobile phone behind the wheel of his Rolls-Royce vehicle in London.
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The 31-year-old born Michael Ebenazer Owuo Junior pleaded guilty to the offense via a letter to the courts, the BBC reports. The offense took place on March 7 on Addison Road in west Kensington, London.
On Thursday morning (Jan. 2), the district judge Andrew Sweet criticised the “Vossy Bop” musician’s “dangerous and irresponsible” actions. The Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court heard that the off-duty police officer knocked on the tinted window of Stormzy’s Rolls-Royce Wraith and said: “Get rid of your tints and get off your phone.”
Sweet banned the rapper, who was not present in court, from driving for nine months and fined him £2,010 (around $2,500). The court was also told that Stormzy already had six penalty points on his driving license from previous offenses.
The prosecutor Alice Holloway noted that in 2023, Stormzy had previously admitted to driving a Lamborghini Urus that had front windows illegally tinted to only 4% light transmission, violating the 70% requirement.
In October 2023, Stormzy was stopped by officers on Coombe Lane, in Kingston upon Thames, London, having previously been warned about the windows. Stormzy’s solicitor Peter Csemiczky said that his client accepted responsibility for the offenses and apologized. He added that the rapper had removed the tints.
In 2024, Stormzy scored a No.1 on the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart with a team-up with rave duo Chase & Status. Their single “Backbone” hit the top spot in August 2024, while Stormzy released his most recent full-length LP, This Is What I Mean, in November 2022.
