The 63 year-old LBC broadcaster and author claimed a disqualification would impact the free motivational speeches he delivers to schoolchildren, but this did not sway the magistrates.
Cambridge-born Dale, of Priory Farm, Romford Road, Pembury, Tunbridge Wells appeared at Crawley Magistrates’ Court yesterday, where he was banned for six months.
He admitted exceeding the 30mph limit on the A22 Eastbourne Road, Halland, East Sussex on September 5, last year when he was caught travelling at 43mph, approximately four miles from the £1.5m detached farmhouse he shares with husband John Simmons.
The court heard Dale - who once owned the late Princess of Wales’ Gomera Pearl racing green Audi Cabriolet convertible - already had three speeding offences on his driving licence.
These were committed on November 19, 2022; July 22, 2023 and July 13, last year and he received three penalty points for each offence.
Today’s four penalty points triggered the six-month automatic disqualification under the totting rules.
Dressed in a dark blue suit, light blue shirt and multi-coloured spotted tie Dale was also fined £666, with £130 costs and ordered to pay a £266 victim surcharge.
Prosecutor Emily Begley told the court it was 7.33pm when Dale’s black electric Audi was caught exceeding the speed limit.
In 2012 Dale received a six-month driving ban for four speeding offences and also wrote about his experiences attending a speed awareness course when caught breaking the 30mph limit in Brixton at 3.00am on another occasion.
Last year he was cleared of speeding on the A20 dual carriageway after instructing ‘Mr Loophole’ Nick Freeman’s law firm.
He once confessed to previously selling an F-type Jaguar due to the temptation to drive fast. “I started picking up speeding tickets like it was going out of fashion.”
Asking not to be disqualified on the grounds that a ban would cause ‘exceptional hardship’ Dale told the hearing: “My day job is a radio presenter, but I also speak at political meetings, literary festivals and most importantly schools.
“I have never thought of myself as a motivational speaker, but I get a lot of feedback from schools, where I talk about politics and the media.
“I have a letter from the headteacher of a school in Ilford that after one of my speeches a pupil felt such an impact she wanted to change her career plans to do what I do.
“The Head of Media at the University of Gloucester said that a student had told her about me and was studying media because of that.”
Visibly emotional and choking up, Dale said: “You can imagine how that feels.
“I have not taken on all there engagements because of this case as some of the schools are remote and not easily accessible by train.
“It is the impact on other people more than me. I do not get paid for it, in fact it costs me.”
Dale’s chequered driving career began early, crashing his Ford Cortina Mark III when driving to the pub on his twentieth birthday.
This resulted in injuries to both his passenger sisters, with one suffering a fractured skull and the other losing her front teeth on impact with the windscreen.
Perhaps that its why more recently Dale has advocated for newly-qualified drivers to take a compulsory speed awareness course.
“I have a lot of links in Norfolk and if I go to a school in the north of the county it is difficult by train and the same for Devon and Cornwall,” he told the magistrates.
“Time is also a factor, with most schools wanting me there at ten or eleven in the morning.”
When questioned about his earnings he asked: “Can I write that down rather than say it’s in open court?”
Bench Chairman John Edwards told Dale: “You have pleaded guilty to speeding and we do not find ‘exceptional hardship’ in this case.
“Four penalty points have been added to your licence and that makes you a totter, which brings a disqualification of six months.
“You cannot drive any motor vehicle on a public road for six moths. If you do drive while disqualified it is a serious offence and you may be sentenced to custody and disqualified again.”
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