Woman, 21, caught speeding twice by same officer

9:42am Friday 9th May 2008

Police officer Yvonne Taylor caught a care worker driving at nearly 100mph on the Selby by-pass.

Then she spotted the same woman motorist driving at 52mph in a 30mph residential street.

But Sarah Jane McDonagh is still on the roads after Selby magistrates decided not to ban her from driving.

McDonagh, 21, of Parkways, Selby, pleaded guilty to two offences of speeding and now faces a £525 court bill consisting of a £165 fine, £30 victim surcharge and £80 prosecution costs. She also got 11 points on her driving licence which means that if she speeds again, or breaks a traffic law, she would face a six-month ban.

Peter O'Donnell, prosecuting, said the police officer first clocked McDonagh on the A63 Selby by-pass heading towards Brayton in a Renault Megan on February 28 at 9.45am. She was doing 93mph, although the speed limit there is 60 mph.

She told the officer: "I am going for a job interview and I'm late".

On April 2, at 4.30pm, the same police officer was in Denison Road at 4.30pm when she saw McDonagh driving at 52mph as she headed into town.

The road has a 30mph speed limit. McDonagh said she thought the speed limit was 40 mph.

McDonagh, who was unrepresented, told magistrates she had had to queue when she filled up on February 28 and had not allowed enough time for her journey.

She needed the job she had applied for because she was under financial pressure at the time.

On April 2, she had just been to see a solicitor about the speeding case from the February 28 incident and he had told her she would have to pay £200 for him to represent her in court.

She had her mind on that and her financial worries when she was pulled over.

She now has two jobs - working as a full-time employee doing 12-hour shifts at Temple Manor nursing home, near Temple Hirst, and on her days off fitting in 30 hours as a home carer.