The fact that her use of a mobile phone exacerbated the offence was apparently taken into account rather than warranting a further charge. The Daily Mail wanted her banned, ostracised as well as hung drawn and quartered. The Mail's attitude is of course perfectly reasonable although not particularly in line with the sentencing policies of Magistrates Courts.
It is an added embarrassment for Miss Harman, a QC, that she was Solicitor General when Labour banned using a handheld mobile at the wheel. She was also ordered to pay a £15 'victim surcharge', a Labour policy which has been condemned as a stealth 'justice tax'.
