David Lowe v The Registrar of Approved Driving Instructors

Facts

The appellant, David Lowe, was an Approved Driving Instructor whose name the Registrar of Approved Driving Instructors removed from the Register by a decision made on 14 January 2026. The Registrar's reasons were that the appellant had accrued penalty points for speeding on 30 April 2024 and 18 October 2025, that the offending was serious, and that allowing him to remain on the Register would undermine confidence in it. By a Notice of Appeal dated 11 February 2026 the appellant appealed to the First-tier Tribunal, contending that the details he had provided of the two offences had been given insufficient weight. He accepted he had failed to notify the Registrar of either offence within the required seven days. As to the first offence, he said he had been on an unfamiliar dual carriageway in Solihull with fluctuating limits and unclear signage, travelling at about 42-44mph in a 40mph zone, and that an email of notification had been sent from his ex-wife's phone but appeared not to have been received. As to the second, he said he had been driving on the M11 on cruise control at 65mph in rain and darkness, taking swimmers to a championship, and had missed a change to a 50mph limit; his acrimonious divorce had prevented prompt notification. He relied on the effect of removal on his income and on character references from pupils.