Shane Richie gets six-month driving ban for speeding and blames paparazzi 'baiting' during 'very public' divorce

From the Newshound archive · first published 30 September 2026 · last updated 1 October 2026.

EastEnders actor Shane Richie, 62, told Guildford Magistrates' Court that press photographers had been "constantly baiting" him for months, pursuing him daily from the BBC soap's Borehamwood studios to his home and local supermarket. Magistrate Sheila Hewitt banned him from driving for six months, fined him £500 and ordered him to pay £320 in costs and a surcharge after he admitted doing 35mph in a 30mph zone on Reigate Hill in Surrey on March 15. Richie, best known as Alfie Moon, entered his guilty plea in writing via the Single Justice Procedure on September 23. He now also faces a separate drink-driving trial in November 2027 over an alleged incident in Harlow, Essex, which he denies.

Richie said photographers drove alongside him on the M25 and followed him to the supermarket trying to provoke 'an angry reaction on camera'.

He is separately alleged to have blown nearly double the legal breath alcohol limit while driving a white Hyundai in Harlow in July.

'This is not an excuse for going five miles over the limit, but just a reason why I may have sped up,' Richie told the court.