Bob Hawke has a brush with the law in Oxford

The future Prime Minister of Australia appeared before Oxford magistrates in January 1955 after backing into a police car and denting it after a night out.

He was driving what fellow students described as “a beat-up van almost in the banger class”.

The court heard that he drove through a red traffic light in St Aldate’s and swerved across the road as he sped down High Street.

Read again: Bob Hawke's yard of ale feat was a claim to fame

He ignored attempts to flag him down and police only caught up with him when he drove into the car park of the University Air Squadron in Manor Road.

He was a member of the squadron and had been to a dinner there.

He returned at 1am after dropping off a friend at Pembroke College who was “the worse for wear”.

Mr Hawke, who was at University College studying philosophy, politics and economics, pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving. He was fined £20 and banned from the roads for two months.

He admitted sounding his horn at night and failing to produce his driving licence and insurance certificate and was fined a total of £1 10 shillings (£1.50).

As the magistrates announced their verdict, a student in the public gallery shouted “Shame, shame” and was promptly ejected from the court.

Mr Hawke later appealed against his dangerous driving conviction and won. Deputy Recorder Mr A C Longland QC decided at Qxford Quarter Sessions that his driving was not dangerous.

Read more: Yard of ale feat could earn blue plaque

The convivial Australian certainly enjoyed his three years as a Rhodes scholar at University College from 1953 to 1956.

As we reported (Memory Lane, June 21), he set a world record after drinking a yard of ale (2½ pints) in 11 seconds in Oxford in 1954, earning him a place in the Guinness Book of Records.

He also enjoyed playing cricket for North Oxford and the Authentics, the University second string.

The van which landed him in court unexpectedly won him a place in the Oxford University first team in their end-of-term tour in 1955 – it was the only transport they had for their kit.

He certainly lived a full life at Oxford – student friends said he “drank excessively, wenched excessively and played cricket excessively”.

In his memoirs, he suggested his feat of drinking a yard of ale so quickly contributed more than anything to his political success, by endearing him to an electorate with a strong beer culture.

Read again: Children's reading challenge backed by TV presenter

He starred as a batsman and fielder for North Oxford and the Authentics, the university second string.

He left his boots and pads behind when he left Oxford, promising to return one day – they were stored in the loft of the St John’s College pavilion for many years.

He married Hazel Masterson, the woman he met in Oxford, in Perth in 1956 after returning to Australia.

In later life, he re-established his links with the city, though not through cricket. He was appointed an honorary fellow of University College a year into his premiership in 1984. And he returned to Oxford in 2003 to receive an honorary degree. He died in 2019.