Helen Flanagan has been slapped with a six-month driving ban after her Audi was caught speeding twice in 16 days.
The 34-year-old actress, who played Rosie Webster on Coronation Street, was disqualified from driving for half a year at Wirral Magistrates' Court on Wednesday (January 15). She attended court having been convicted of two counts of failing to give information relating to the identification of the driver of a vehicle when required.
The mum-of-three failed to respond to police notices asking her to identify who was driving her Audi Q7 when it was caught speeding on two occasions in June of last year. Magistrates had said they were not satisfied that a driving ban would cause Flanagan "exceptional hardship".
Flanagan was also told to pay nearly £3k in fines; £1k for each of the two offences, a victim surcharge of £800 and prosecution costs which came to £110. The soap star was also issued six points on her license for each offence.
Chairman David Holley told the court: “There will be a fine in respect of both offences of £1,000, £2,000 in total. In addition there will be six penalty points for each offence. In the normal course of events, you would be disqualified from driving today.
“We have listened carefully to everything said today, in particular we take into account the arguments in relation to your three children, the impact your children’s father would suffer, your current partner and the impact a ban would have on your mental health.
“It is a high bar to pass and it is inevitable that every disqualification comes with an element of hardship. We are not satisfied that you or those around you would suffer exceptional hardship if you were disqualified from driving.”
Flanagan, who shares Matlida, seven, Delilah, five, and Charlie, three, with footballer Scott Sinclair, her ex, had told the court that she would struggle without a car as she has to look after her three young children. She said: "I’m a single mum, I live on my own. I live in the middle of the moors. There’s no shop nearby. I think it’s a 10 minute drive. It is very remote. I live there with my three children.
"This map here shows my house, it shows how far it is to the nearest supermarket which is about a 10 minute drive for me.” Asked about public transport, she says: “It’s difficult. I find it very difficult. I would really struggle without a car with my children anyway. It’s really remote. You can’t just go and get some bread or milk."
Flanagan had claimed she was "too busy as a working single mum" to remember if she had read the required court papers. She claimed she thought her boyfriend Robbie Talbot, who attended court with her, had responded to the police notices identifying himself as the driver of the Audi.
The star, who had claimed Robbie was driving the vehicle at the time of the offences, said: "I said to my boyfriend, you need to reply to this. I was not driving the car at the time and I said you need to sort it. I was annoyed. It was not me who had the points".
She also said: "I am a single mum. I have three children, I work constantly. I cannot remember. I am a busy working single mum. I cannot remember. I do not do my paperwork. I literally get my dad to do my paperwork. Yes, I think I did because I was worried if I could drive my car or not. But I cannot remember. I am really confused, I do not understand. But my boyfriend has got paperwork which shows that he responded."
Talbot, a former footballer, claimed he had evidence supporting that he did respond to the letter. However, the court heard the police never received the document.
At a past hearing, JP Derek Aspinwall told Helen: "I understand that you are a busy mother. I understand you might have mitigation that your boyfriend did it, but at the time you are facing six points on each offence, a total of 12 points. The fact is that you received the documentation, you have seen it and given it to your boyfriend. You received it but you did not deal with it."
On Wednesday, Helen told the court she was 'struggling financially' and was suffering with anxiety and OCD. Asked about her youngest child’s nursery, she said: “Nursery is really important for my little boy. I’m a single mum so it gives me a bit of a break. It’s a bit of a drive to get there. The only way I would be able to get him to nursery is by Uber. That would be very expensive. I’m really struggling at the moment financially.”
The court also heard that Flanagan attends therapy sessions in Birmingham relating to post-natal depression following the birth of her daughter. On this, Helen said: “She really helps me. I drive every eight weeks or every few months, whenever I’m struggling with my mental health I go and see Liz. It really helps me. It is a drive. I have to drive from Bolton to Birmingham.
“I do struggle with anxiety. I have terrible OCD. It does really impact my life in general.”
Flanagan says of her children: "They have something every day. Football, dance, drama. My boyfriend wouldn’t be able to do that. It’s me, I have to do it.”
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