Coronation Street’s Helen Flanagan banned from driving after blaming ex for offences
Former Coronation Street star Helen Flanagan has been banned from driving and must pay £3,000 in fines.
The star, best known for her role as Rosie Webster in the show, has allegedly blamed her ex-footballer boyfriend Robbie Talbot for the offences, which reportedly saw her caught speeding on July 10, and then again on July 26.
Helen, who is 34, has appeared at Wirral Magistrates’ Court today, charged with failing to provide documents over the ‘speeding’.
Following the court hearing, Helen has now been banned from driving for six months, and told to pay £3,000 in fines.
She previously claimed she was ‘busy as a working single mum’ to remember if she had read the required court papers (Picture: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
According to PA, Chairman David Holley said: ‘There will be a fine in respect of both offences of £1,000, £2,000 in total.
The star was also told to pay a surcharge of £800 and prosecution costs, which totalled £110.
Holley added: ‘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.’
The actress, who is mum to Matilda, Delilah and Charlie, previously said to JPs that she was too ‘busy as a working single mum’ to remember if she had read the required court papers.
Helen also claimed that former boyfriend Robbie was driving the Audi at the time.
‘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 stated.
The former footballer claimed he has evidence that he did respond to the letter, but the court was told 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.’
He added: ‘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.’
Helen shares her three children with Scott Sinclair. In 2022, Helen revealed a wedding date had finally been confirmed for her and Scott, four years after their engagement.
However, in November 2023, she called time on the relationship.
It was alleged the relationship ended following Helen’s trip to South Africa, where she filmed a special All Stars series of I’m A Celebrity.
