Former Coronation Street star Helen Flanagan could face losing her licence after her Audi was allegedly ‘caught speeding twice in 16 days’.
The actress appeared at a court in Wirral accused of two charges for failing to provide documents after she allegedly failed to respond to police notices of prosecution asking her to identify who was driving her luxury Q7 when it was caught speeding on July 10 and then July 26 this year in the Liverpool area.
However, the mum-of-three blamed her boyfriend Robbie Talbot, as she claimed she was ‘too busy as a working single mum’ to remember if she had read the court papers. Helen, who has children with former Celtic midfielder Scott Sinclair, 34, told a court: ”I’m so confused. My life would be unbelievably difficult without a driving licence.”
The former I’m A Celebrity… star was convicted of both charges last September, reports Manchester Evening News. She was told to appear in court to be told she would be disqualified from driving under the totting up procedure as each offence warrants six points on her licence.
However, as she appeared at court, representing herself, Helen claimed that she believed her 45-year-old boyfriend had responded to the police requests to identify the driver of the Audi as he had been driving it. She 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.”
When asked if she had seen the court papers, she 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”
When told by JP Derek Aspinwall that ‘lots of people are busy’, the Celebs Go Dating star said: “I cannot remember. My dad was really cross. We were sorting this out. I got my boyfriend to sort it out. It’s not my fault. I said ‘you need to sort it out’.
“Maybe I have missed some paperwork, I do not know. I have not actually done anything wrong. I have not done anything. My life would be unbelievably difficult without a driving licence. I do everything right. I have got three kids. I do everything. Their dad lives in London.”
Ex-footballer Robbie told the court: “I responded on Helen’s behalf. She signed all the paperwork. I showed her what I was saying and she signed it. I have got it here. I have got the correspondence that we sent.”
He also said he’d emailed the court on numerous occasions and added: “It was Helen that replied – I looked over it and she signed all the documents. I have responded on all three occasions. I have got evidence of that. I have responded in every way we have possible. We spoke to three different colleagues on three different occasions and we responded promptly.”
Prosecutor Donna McCann said the police had not received any documentation. Helen will face court again in January after being advised to get legal representation.
But a legal advisor told her: “Because each of these offences carries six penalty points, you are at risk of being disqualified. It was your responsibility to sort it. I know you asked someone to do it but it has not been responded to on two occasions. You have to be careful about the information that you give.”
Mr Aspinwall told her: “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.
“I understand that your boyfriend dealt with it. But just take care of how you answer. Take legal advice. You need to remember what you have been telling us. The charge is not informing police about who was driving the vehicle. It was your responsibility to get back to the chief constable. On the next occasion, it is for a sentence. On that date you could be losing your driving licence.”
Don’t miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond. Sign up to our daily newsletter.