Ex-Stone Roses singer has driving charge dropped

Former Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown has been told he was “free to go” by a court after prosecutors dropped a driving charge against him.

The 47-year-old, from Baycliffe, Lymm, Cheshire, appeared before Waltham Forest Magistrates’ Court in northeast London to answer a charge of failing to provide information last December relating to the identification of the driver of a car alleged to have committed a speeding offence.

In a short hearing, Sabrina Samaroo, for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said she would not be offering any evidence after discussions with Harriet Bathurst-Norman, counsel for Mr Brown.

No further details about the charge were given at the court hearing.

Magistrates chairman Alan Sims, addressing the musician, said: “You have heard the prosecutor say she is offering no evidence – that means you are free to go.”

A statement issued outside the court by Freeman & Co. solicitors, which represented Mr Brown, said the singer was summonsed with failing to furnish driver details, after allegedly ignoring both a speeding notice and a reminder.

The case arose after a car registered in Mr Brown’s name was flashed doing 65 mph in a 50 mph limit at 10.30 p.m. on November 16 last year, on the A40 near RAF Northolt, the firm said in a statement. Mr Brown failed to respond to both a speeding notice and a reminder, so a summons was issued for him to appear before court, Freeman & Co. said.

Nick Freeman, the celebrity lawyer who represented Mr Brown, said he was “delighted” by the result but criticised the CPS for taking so long to make its decision.

He said the summons was “defective” as the date of the alleged offence on it was incorrect.

Had he been found guilty, Mr Brown’s licence would have automatically been endorsed with six points.