Helen Flanagan fined and banned from driving after Audi clocked speeding

Helen Flanagan has been banned from driving after failing to tell police who was behind the wheel of her car that was clocked speeding.

The former Coronation Street star appeared at Wirral Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday (January 15), having been convicted of two counts of failing to give information relating to the identification of the driver of a vehicle when required.

She had told the court that a band would cause her 'exceptional hardship' and claimed she is 'struggling financially' at the moment.

The court was told that the mum-of-three allegedly failed to respond to notices of intended prosecution asking her to identify who was driving her Audi Q7 when it was spotted travelling over the speed limit in Liverpool and Sefton on July 10 and 26 last year.

Flanagan claimed that her boyfriend Robbie Talbot had responded to the police notices in order to identify himself as the driver.

The prosecution solicitor said that Flanagan’s Audi was caught travelling at 42mph in a 30mph zone on Scotland Road, near to the junction with Dryden Street, at 1.16pm on June 6 last year. At 11.16am on June 25, the same vehicle was caught travelling at 51mph in a 40mph zone near to junction six of the M57.

Patrick Boyers, defending, said: “She is a single mother of three children and she is doing her best. I would invite you to see round the haze of social media influencer branding. I would invite you to look at this case on the cold, hard facts of who is in front of you and I would invite you to find that exceptional hardship is a real possibility.”

Flanagan appealed to the court not to ban her from driving, saying she would 'really struggle' without a car. She told the magistrates: "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."

When asked about public transport, she added: “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 also told the court that paying for taxis to take her child to nursery would be expensive.

She added: "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.”

Magistrates said they were not satisfied a ban would cause Flanagan, who already had six points on her licence, exceptional hardship and also ordered her to pay a £2,000 fine, £800 victim surcharge and £110 prosecution costs.

Chairman David Holley said: "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 nodded as she was banned from driving for six months. She asked for time to pay the fine, costs and surcharge and requests payments of £1,000 per month. Flanagan replied: "thank you" as the hearing ended and she was told she could leave the court.