Emma Watson has been banned from driving for six months after she was caught speeding in her £30,000 Audi.
The 35-year-old Harry Potter actress was sentenced at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court today after admitting to driving at 38mph in a 30mph zone – her fourth driving offence in less than two years.
She received three points on her licence, in addition to nine points from driving offences in October 2023, November 2023 and January 2024.
The star, who played Hermione in the films, will also have to pay £1,044 in fines, including £660 for a guilty plea, a £264 surcharge and £120 cost, which she must pay within 28 days.
Coincidentally, Watson was the second Harry Potter star to be banned from driving at the same court today.
Her co-star Zoë Wanamaker, who played Quidditch referee Madam Hooch in the first movie, appeared in the same court room just moments later.
Nine-time Olivier Award nominee Wanamaker, 77, was caught doing 46mph in a 40mph zone on the M4, close to where she lives in Wiltshire.
Watson’s offence was captured by a speed camera on a restricted road in the city where Watson has been studying for a doctorate at Oxford University. The actress was behind the wheel of a £30,000 Audi S3 at the time of the incident.
This is not Watson’s first brush with motoring misfortune. In February last year, her Audi was impounded by police after she parked illegally outside the Rose and Crown pub in Stratford-upon-Avon. The car had been left blocking the entrance to a car park, trapping a pizza restaurant manager’s vehicle inside for over three hours.
The manager, who had just finished a 12-hour shift, was eventually forced to call the police after being unable to locate the car’s owner.
Watson emerged from the pub as the vehicle was being towed, but her appeals were unsuccessful. She was issued a £192 fine.
Watson rose to fame playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series from 2001 to 2011 and later starred in 2019’s Little Women.
She has since taken a step back from Hollywood, focusing instead on her academic pursuits and personal life.
At Oxford, she has been spotted coxing the New College women’s third rowing team and is reportedly dating fellow student Kieran Brown, who recently completed his own doctorate.
The pair were seen kissing at a Gail’s Bakery in Oxford last year.
Watson has also made headlines for her public support of trans rights, in contrast to Harry Potter author JK Rowling’s controversial views on the issue. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Watson wrote: “Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are.”
Zoe Wanamaker already had nine points on her licence from previous offences which occurred on the 26 June 2023, 11 December 2023 and 1 July 2024.
In addition to the three points she received today, that pushed the My Family actress into the maximum driving points anyone can receive meaning she is automatically banned from driving for six months.
She also received a fine of £1044 payable within 28 days.
District Judge Arvind Sharma, passing sentence, said: ‘Her licence will be endorsed with three points, a Band A fine, which would have been £1,000, reduced to £660 for her guilty plea at the first opportunity.
‘She will pay a £264 surcharge and £120 costs, to be paid in full within 28 days.
‘The 12 points (means) she is disqualified for six months from now.’
Zoe is also famous for starring in British sitcom My Family alongside Robert Lindsay
The case of Wanamaker, the nine-time Olivier Award nominee, was heard by magistrates directly after Harry Potter co-star Emma Watson who received the exact same sentence at High Wycombe Magistrates court today.
Duncan Jones, defending Wanamaker said: ‘She is not seeking any special treatment and accepts that she will be disqualified from driving.’