Sir Edward Leigh was fined today after he knocked a police officer off his Brompton bike by opening his car door as the officer cycled past his home near Parliament.
The veteran Tory MP for Gainsborough inflicted serious injuries on the officer who broke his sternum and suffered cuts when he fell to the ground along Horseferry Road in Westminster last summer.
In a hearing before Bromley Magistrates' Court, which Sir Edward did not attend, he was treated as an individual merely in receipt of a state pension and therefore fined £120.
The 74-year-old must also pay £110 in costs and an additional £48 in a victim surcharge.
Last August Sir Edward pled guilty to injuring or endangering a person when he opened the drivers' door of his grey Skoda Superb.
In a lengthy hand-written statement which he provided the court with, Sir Edward said that he remains 'traumatised by the incident' and asked how he could make up for it.
Bestowed with the informal title of Father of the House, Sir Edward is currently the longest serving MP in the country having been first elected back in 1983. He was also the recipient of knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in 2013.
Detailing the facts of the case before the court today, Prosecutor Alison Larkin said: 'It was 6.53pm and he (Sir Edward) opened the drivers' door of his Skoda on Horseferry Road. Rob Amos was passing on a Brompton bicycle and he caused the door to hit the police officer.
'The door opened and it caused the officer to injure himself high up on his chest, causing a displaced fracture of his sternum, with fluid under the sternum and he suffered cuts to the top of his left hand that required stitches'.
Sir Edward went on to state in his letter that he had parked in the residents' bay outside his house and remained at the scene to assist the injured officer.
Whilst the MP admitted he was at fault for the collision, he stressed that he had checked his wing mirror before exiting the vehicle.
He also wanted it to be known by…
Per the #DailyHeil report, "He (Sir Edward Leigh) also wanted it to be known by the court that the (police) officer was not wearing a crash helmet at the time of the incident."
#Bastard