Ed Sheeran has been fined by a court after accidentally failing to insure his classic Aston Martin while it was being restored and converted to an electric car.
The 35-year-old singer-songwriter handed over the silver 1966 car for an overhaul in 2021 and has not sat behind the wheel of the vehicle since.
But on December 17 last year, the DVLA spotted Sheeran had not paid for insurance on the Aston Martin while the restoration work was under way.
The Grammy and Emmy-winning singer told Bradford Magistrates’ Court he believed the workshop’s insurance covered his car, and in any event the Aston Martin has not been on the road for the last five years.
But he was convicted last week of keeping a motor vehicle which does not meet insurance requirements.
Magistrate Jacqueline Whittle ordered the star to pay a £666 fine, with £100 costs and a £266 victim surcharge.
Sheeran was prosecuted by the DVLA behind-closed-doors in the Single Justice Procedure and he submitted a letter of explanation to accompany his guilty plea.
“The vehicle is a vintage Aston Martin car which, since 2021, has been in the process of full restoration by Aston Workshop Ltd,” he wrote.
“The vehicle has remained within the control of the workshop continuously since 2021 and has been kept off public roads and remained within their garage at all times.
“There has accordingly been no risk to third party members of the public arising from the uninsured driving of the vehicle.
“I have at no point had physical possession or practical control of the vehicle.
“In fact, the vehicle has been inoperable since 2021, through the relevant date and to the present day.
“It is still in the process of being restored and converted into an electric vehicle at the workshop.”
Sheeran, who was awarded an MBE in 2017 for services to music and charity, apologised for taking up court resources, but also insisted he never received the DVLA’s initial offer of an out-of-court fine, which he says he would have paid immediately.
He said the company restoring his car “has provided assurances that they maintain their own comprehensive motor trade and road risk insurance policies covering all vehicles under their custody and control”, and it was “my genuine belief that the aforementioned insurance policies maintained by the workshop provided sufficient insurance cover for the vehicle under the Act and that these policies were in place at all material times.
“It is for that reason that I never personally took out motor insurance for this vehicle.”
He said the car was declared off-road with a SORN notice on February 1 this year.
Sheeran, whose hit songs include Shape of You, Thinking Out Loud and Castle on the Hill, added: “This is not a case involving the deliberate disregard of vehicle insurance obligations, the actual use of an uninsured vehicle, or any intention to avoid the legal requirements under the Act.
“Rather, this issue has arisen from a genuine administrative misunderstanding concerning an inoperable vehicle that was not being used, and which was genuinely believed to be appropriately covered by insurance policies held by the workshop while the vehicle was in the workshop’s possession being assembled.”
Sheeran’s case was dealt with on Friday July 31 without a formal court hearing.
He was among 1,451 people across England and Wales to be convicted last week of failing to insure their vehicles.
In his mitigation, Sheeran said a letter from Aston Workshop Limited had also been sent to the court to support his case.
But a court official told the Press Association that letter was not on the system and would not have been considered by the magistrate during the sentencing hearing.