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TV producer Jemima Goldsmith blamed her builders as she was convicted and fined £1,000 over a run-in with the Metropolitan Police.
The 52-year-old failed to respond to police letters after a Mini Clubman vehicle registered in her name was caught breaking the speed limit in north London.
Goldsmith eventually offered up the name of the guilty driver who had been using her car, but by then she had missed the deadline to respond to avoid court proceedings.
Explaining the blunder, Goldsmith blamed major renovation work on her £10 million Kensington home.
“Due to ongoing construction works at the property where my car is registered, which made access tricky, the original letter was mislaid by builders and I was unaware of its existence until October,” she wrote, in a note to Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
“As soon as it was received, I completed and returned the form immediately.”
Reading her personal impact statement to the court, the victim said she lived in “constant fear” and the attack had “left scars in every part of my life” which had led her to self-harm and an attempt to take her own life.
She said: “What happened to me destroyed my life in ways I never thought possible. I didn’t just feel violated, I felt erased.
“Since that day I have lived in fear, shame, silence and unbearable pain that I can’t fully describe.
“I was left feeling broken and empty and terrified of the world around me.”
Judge Gary Lucie sentenced Hotak to a 10-year prison term with a four-year extended period on licence, imposed an indefinite restraining order on him not to contact the victim, and placed him on the sex offenders’ register.
He told Hotak, who was assisted by a Pashtu interpreter: “The Home Office will consider whether to deport you.”
He added: “You took advantage of the victim who was very drunk. It is obvious your offending has had a severe psychological impact on her which will probably remain with her for the rest of her life.
“I want to pay tribute to her for her bravery in coming forward and going through what must have been a very difficult time for her.”
Elizabeth Medland, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This was a terrifying and traumatic attack on a young woman who was only trying to get home safely after a night out with friends.
“Musafar Hotak exploited her, ignored her protests, and violated her when she was unable to protect herself.
“My thoughts are with the victim in this case, whose powerful witness testimony was instrumental in securing a conviction.”
Court papers show Goldsmith named a man called Anthony Reilly, who lives in Switzerland, as the person who had been driving the Mini when it was caught doing 46mph on a 40mph stretch of the A1 in Hampstead on August 25 last year.
But her response was dated November 4 – six days after the final police deadline and two months after the first notification of a speeding ticket.
In a letter to the court, Goldsmith also referenced the death of her mother, Lady Annabel Goldsmith, in October last year at the age of 91.
“My PA who collects the post had been on annual leave in October and my mother died on 18th that month, so I was less on top of things than I am normally,” she wrote.
“I am very sorry for the delay and inconvenience caused.
“I fully accept that a fine is due.”
Goldsmith was convicted by magistrate Gladys Famoriyo of failing to give information relating to the identification of the driver of a vehicle when required.
The magistrate imposed a £1,000 fine, six penalty points for her licence, and also ordered Goldsmith to pay £130 in costs and a £400 victim surcharge.
Goldsmith, who is known professionally as Jemima Khan, is the founder of a TV production company and has worked as a screenwriter and magazine editor.
She married former cricketer Imran Khan in 1995, and they have two children together.
Documents filed with Kensington and Chelsea Council show Goldsmith successfully applied last year for permission to carry out major renovations on her home, including the demolition and “grand” rebuild of one of the wings of the luxury property.
She was prosecuted over her failure to identify the speeding driver in the Single Justice Procedure, a fast-track court process which spares defendants the need to come to court and allows magistrates to make decisions on convictions and sentences in closed-door hearings.
Goldsmith was among 1,905 defendants who were convicted and sentenced last week for failing to identify the driver of a vehicle when contacted by police.
More than 330 of those defendants lost their licence as a result of the conviction.
