Helen Flanagan, 34, ‘breaks down in tears’ as she’s slapped with 6-month driving ban and fine after speeding
Former Coronation Street star Helen Flanagan has been handed a six-month driving ban after her Audi Q7 was caught speeding twice in the Liverpool area last summer.
The 34-year-old actress appeared at Wirral Magistrates’ Court yesterday, where she was convicted of two counts of failing to give information relating to the identification of the driver.
The incidents occurred on July 10 and July 26, when her vehicle was caught speeding. Flanagan failed to respond to police notices requesting driver identification.
Alongside the driving ban, she was ordered to pay substantial fines totalling nearly £3,000, including £1,000 for each offence, an £800 victim surcharge and £110 in prosecution costs.
The court also imposed six penalty points for each offence on her licence.
During her court appearance, Flanagan claimed her boyfriend Robbie Talbot was responsible for the speeding incidents, stating she was “too busy as a working single mum” to handle the paperwork.
“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 told the court.
Talbot insisted he had responded on Flanagan’s behalf, telling justices: “She signed all the paperwork. I showed her what I was saying and she signed it. I have got the correspondence that we sent.”
However, prosecutors stated they had not received any documentation regarding the incidents.
JP Derek Aspinwall reminded Flanagan: “It was your responsibility to get back to the chief constable.”
In an emotional testimony, Flanagan broke down in tears as she detailed her current financial struggles and living situation.
“I’m a single mum, I live on my own. I live in the middle of the moors. There’s no shop nearby. It’s very remote,” she told the court.
The actress revealed she was “really struggling” financially, explaining her main income now comes from social media work which “varies” in earnings.
She expressed concerns about the cost of alternative transport, particularly for her son’s nursery runs, which would require expensive taxi services.
Flanagan also cited her mental health needs, telling the court she regularly drives to Birmingham for therapy sessions. “I do struggle with anxiety and I have terrible OCD. I do really, really struggle with my ADHD so it does really impact my life,” she said.
Despite these pleas, magistrates ruled they were not satisfied the ban would cause exceptional hardship.
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Flanagan first rose to fame playing Rosie Webster in ITV’s Coronation Street, a role she began in 2000 at age 10.
She remained a regular cast member until 2012, later returning briefly in 2017 before departing on maternity leave in 2018.
The actress has since appeared in several reality TV shows, including I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! in 2012 and its All Stars series in South Africa in 2023.
She shares three children with former partner Scott Sinclair, whom she split from in October 2022 after 13 years together.
Most recently, Flanagan has appeared on E4’s Celebs Go Dating in 2024, while continuing her work as a social media influencer.