Why security minister Tom Tugendhat is being prosecuted in private

Government minister Tom Tugendhat is being prosecuted behind closed doors after he was caught using his mobile phone while driving.

Tugendhat, the MP for Tonbridge and Malling in Kent who stood for the Conservative leadership in the summer, apologised after he was stopped by police in Wandsworth, southwest London, on 4 April.

Although the security minister told officers he was using his phone to navigate, he was prosecuted by the Met Police as he already had six penalty points on his driving licence. An officer said: “The device was being held in his left hand. The driver appeared to be having a conversation.”

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The Evening Standard revealed that the case will be dealt with at Bromley Magistrates’ Court today under the single justice procedure, where prosecutions are heard in private.

If convicted, he would face a fine and a further six points on his licence, which could mean a six-month driving ban. A spokesman for Tugendhat said he “put himself on a driving course of his own volition” after the incident and “accepts that holding his phone while driving is an offence”.

Tugendhat informed the Home Office permanent secretary about the driving offence after he was appointed as a minister in September, reported the BBC.

Single justice procedure (SJP) courts sit in private across England and Wales with just one magistrate deciding on criminal cases. Hundreds of thousands of people are convicted each year in the courts, which were introduced in 2015.

However, said the Evening Standard, “disgruntled magistrates” are refusing to sit in secretive court hearings because they believe the system is “watering down justice”.

MPs have also expressed concern, noted The Justice Gap magazine. The House of Commons justice committee has recommended that the Ministry of Justice review the procedure and seek to “enhance its transparency by publishing case information in a timely fashion”.