Guy Ritchie has been banned from driving for six months after being caught texting at the wheel by a popular YouTuber.
The Snatch director was driving near Hyde Park when he was spotted by cyclist Mike van Erp, who films drivers he spots breaking the law and then uploads the videos to YouTube.
In the video, recorded in November 2019, van Erp is seen approaching Ritchie on his bicycle, with the filmmaker then rolling down his car window in response.
“I don’t think you should be doing your text messages while you are driving,” van Erp tells Ritchie. “I saw you doing it back there as well.”
Ritchie is then seen driving away with traffic, having rolled his window back up. “I guess he doesn’t want to talk anymore,” van Erp says.
Ritchie pleaded guilty in writing to the offence. Bromley magistrates this week (21 July) banned him from driving for six months, as he already had nine points on his license from previous speeding offences.
In a statement to the court, van Erp said: “I spotted this driver texting on his phone. I stopped and whilst waiting for traffic to clear could clearly see the driver typing on his phone.
“I then crossed to the driver’s side where I saw his iPhone lit up with the classic blue and grey message bubbles of Apple iMessage, with text, and a message in process of being typed but not sent.”
Under the moniker CyclingMikey, van Erp has more than 22,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel, which is filled with videos of motorists caught on film breaking the law.
Ritchie, who was previously married to pop star Madonna, has directed films including Aladdin, Sherlock Holmes and this year’s The Gentlemen.
