Speeding deputy district judge issued with formal advice for misconduct

A deputy district judge who was convicted for speeding has been issued with formal advice for misconduct.

Deputy district judge Sarah Ellis was convicted in 2023 after she was stopped by police for travelling ‘substantially’ above the limit on an A road. She was issued six penalty points and ordered to pay ‘nearly’ £1,000 which included a fine, victim surcharge and costs.

Ellis self-reported her conviction to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office and said she was ‘deeply sorry’.

A JCIO spokesperson said Ellis, in her representations, ‘explained the circumstances of her conviction were unusual’.

‘She was driving alone in the late evening in a rural area,’ the JCIO said. ‘She was subjected, over a period of time, to unprovoked aggressive and erratic driving by a Transit van driven by two men. This caused her to fear for her safety and eventually to speed up in an attempt to get away from the vehicle. The magistrates’ court accepted her account of the incident.

‘The judge stated that she had not intended to break the law and was deeply sorry for having done so. This was a unique set of circumstances. Her actions, which she accepted were flawed, did not reflect her usual approach to driving.’

Driving offences may trigger a finding of judicial misconduct when the driver receives six points or more for a single offence or more than six points are accrued for multiple offences.

Taking into account ‘the circumstances in which the offence took place, the judge’s acceptance of responsibility for her actions and her apology’, the lady chief justice and the lord chancellor issued Ellis with a sanction for formal advice.