A FORMER Hollyoaks actress was caught speeding TWICE within six weeks. However, she managed to avoid a driving ban and can now take her 14-year old son to football training.
Phina Oruche was Gabby Sharpe’s character in the Channel 4 soap opera of 2010 – now more than a decade later she narrowly avoided a driving ban at Wirral Magistrates Court.
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The 52 year-old woman successfully argued herself out by convincing judges that her car was necessary to transport her son to football practice.
She pleaded for her safety before the court “gifted”Young son who “wants to be the next Cristiano Ronaldo”.
The judge heard that the teen had signed a two-year contract at Crewe Alexandra, a League Two club. Crewe Alexandra trains several times per week in Cheshire.
The speed trap camera captured the ex-soapstar twice in a six-week span earlier this year while she was driving from Liverpool, her home, to the training grounds.
Phina was seen driving her Fiat 500 in blue at 36mph and 37mph respectively, while she was in a 30 zone.
The mum claimed that it was 40mph, but she managed to convince the court that her car was essential for her son’s future career.
Phina cried with joy as she said, “I have a fourteen-year-old boy who is gifted athletically.”
Crewe Alexandra has offered him a two-year contract. He must be available four times per week to train, and he needs to travel long distance at weekends.
“He has worked hard since he was eight years old to get where he is. I do not have to have a car for me, but I need a car for my son.”
Later, she added: “He would likely have to drop out in the event of my disqualification. He would not be interested. He dreams of becoming the next Cristiano Ronaldo.
“I have worked hard to keep him focussed and his passion is working for him. If he had to give up that passion, it would seem like a difficult step.
“I need to keep my license for my kid, for my boy, to keep him on track. I did not speed trap him and he does not have to be punished.
“I put my hands up, I will pay whatever I have to. I just do not want to lose it.”
Phina ended up paying a £40 fine as well as £134 in costs and victim surcharges after admitting to speeding.
She managed to get around the driving ban by insisting that her son was too young for the train journey of 38 miles.
“There is no way he is going intercity at 14,”She said.
The actress stated that speeding offenses were not part of a larger pattern, despite having nine points on her license.
She said to the court, “I’m not driving drunk or speeding along the highway. I absolutely accelerated at this light because it was the only way I could. I’m not speeding all around Liverpool.”
The ex-Hollyoaks star persuaded her court about the importance of getting her car.
Peter Ashworth, the chairman of the Magistrates Board, stated to Phina that he believed that the case would end in her favor. He said: “You’ve told us your son could suffer in the future both in the medium-term and in the near term.
“You feel that he may go off-track, if I can put that that way. We also know that you have medical conditions for which the car must be used. You also indicated that your car is used for business purposes but in a more limited way.
“Taking all this into account as well as your medical problems with mobility we are prepared to allow there would be exceptional hardship in this case.”
Phina shared that she took seven years off from acting when she was five years old. After losing her cousin, she was just 19 when she succumbed to a brain aneurrism..
For years the Liverpudlian actress was a household name, with roles in Taken Down, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Footballers’ Wives.
She also was a model for several years, including walking the runway for Chanel and took part in I’m A Celebrity.
This court case is coming after another Hollyoaks star appeared on the screens.
Gary Lucy and Sinitta have signed up for Celebs Go Dating’s next series.
The two are the first big name stars to sign on the dotted line for the hit E4 show.
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