MP on 'child on quad bike' charge

12 April 2012

Conservative MP Nicholas Soames has been summoned to appear in court over footage allegedly showing him riding a quad bike on a public road with a child perched behind him.

The child was filmed behind Mid Sussex MP Soames, a grandson of Sir Winston Churchill, as he allegedly towed two more children in a trailer in Slaugham, West Sussex, while following a New Year's Day hunt.

It was claimed that none of the children was strapped in or wearing crash helmets in the footage, which was shot by hunt saboteurs and featured in the Daily Mirror newspaper on January 3.

The images were published following the death on Boxing Day of seven-year-old Elizabeth Cooke, who was involved in an accident while riding a quad bike on a public road in Blackmore, Essex.

Soames, 60, has been summoned to appear at Crawley Magistrates' Court on April 16 to face alleged insurance and safety offences under Section 40a of the Road Traffic Act, a Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) spokeswoman said.

Eton-educated Soames, who served as Armed Forces minister from 1994 to 1997, has represented Mid Sussex since 1997 and previously served as MP for Crawley.

He was not available for immediate comment.

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