A nurse who was caught speeding five times in just 19 days has been banned from the roads despite arguing she needed her car as her businessman husband was too ''tied up'' with work to carpool their family.
Mother of five Natasha Hubble, 36, had been caught by the same set of speed cameras driving her NHS fleet car at between 58-63mph on a temporary 50mph stretch of the M62 motorway near Manchester.
But the aesthetics specialist pleaded not to be banned from driving, stating she runs up to 550 miles a week travelling to work, doing the school run and taking her ten-year-old son to football matches.
READ MORE: Three young lives taken as region rocked by six horror stabbings in just 16 days
She said her family ''relied' on her for lifts and claimed her husband Chris, 37, who is director of an engineering firm was ''not much assistance'' as he was busy with his own work, which starts at 7.30am.
Tameside magistrates court heard Mrs Hubble admit to speeding while attempting to avoid a road ban because her family would suffer "exceptional hardship".
Despite this, she was disqualified for six months after a magistrate told her: "We have heard about inconvenience - but no exceptional hardship."
Hubble has also received a fine of £476 with £142 costs.
The incidents occurred between September 3 and 22, 2020, as Hubble was driving her BMW 220D M Sport Auto between Junctions 11 and 12 of the M62 in Salford.
Her lawyer, Charles Stansfield, told the hearing: “Up until these rash of offences, she had a clean driving license for 14 years. The points on the license arise out of the same repetition of offences.
''Within the period of three weeks, she has committed five speeding offences either Westbound or Eastbound.
“She had made a new contract and has a job as a non-invasive aesthetics expert where she travels to Media City, Salford. The car she was driving was from an NHS fleet policy and she committed all of the offences before she received the first notice.
“She was travelling in a temporary speed limit zone. There were no road works and traffic was flowing. It was nowhere near a 50 mph zone and she presumed because there were no road works, that limit was no longer enforced. She had kept her nose clean on points for the last 14 years.
''She has completed a speed awareness course for one of these offences and she has now learnt about the importance of following the temporary limit and how it still applies.
“I am going to ask you not to disqualify her at all. She would have a good number of points hanging over her head for the foreseeable future.
"Because of COVID and the backlog of cases, she would have served that period long ago. Part of her business which is a mobile expert in non-invasive aesthetics took a nose dive completely during COVID."
Mr Stansfield also said Hubble, of Rotheram Close, Knowsley, Liverpool, drove the bulk of the miles ferrying her children around.
''She has five children, age two, six, 10, 13 and the 15 and has to get them to school and back with three different drop offs.
''The 10-year-old is a very good young footballer. In terms of miles per week she says in one week the total was 577.3 miles. She says her son plays football for Blackpool academy and trains at Myerscough College twice per weekly, which is 130 miles.
''She said he played a match at Carlisle which that week was 214 miles. She says she travelled 52 miles for her academy job, 12 miles for her shift at the hospital and 70 miles for her mobile aesthetics plus 8.8 miles to take her son to football. This is pretty well an average driving week, maybe slightly less because of the trip to Carlisle.
''She is a bank nurse with Aintree hospital which she does once per week and has to drive their for her overnight shift. Secondly, she has her own mobile business which is picking up now and she has also started tutoring to what she specialises in.
''She will find to clinics and give training to their operatives throughout Liverpool, Merseyside, Cheshire and Greater Manchester. She has also just started a wholesaling business for the products she uses in her business.
''They are hoping to get premises but at the moment, she delivers the product in person, which is another reason why she needs to be able to drive."
Mr Stansfield also said her husband would not be able to help out if she were to be banned, due to his work.
''Her husband works as a refrigeration and air conditioning service engineer who travels throughout the North West. When these offences took place, he was based in London doing his work. He works from 7.30am and gets home as late as 8pm.
''He is on shift one week in every four 24/7 for emergencies. He is not completely useless but he is tied up doing his own occupation and is not of much assistance to her.
“She and her family pretty well rely on her ability to drive. She has many, many years with no points at all. There was a reason as to why she committed these offences. It all happened over a very short period of time and now her family life is seriously in jeopardy.
“Her rough net income is about £625 per week plus £78 per week in child benefit. Her husband’s net income is £450 per week but this will fluctuate. They pay expenses of around £3,800 per month for their mortgage, council tax, house keeping, insurance, mobile phone contracts etc.
''That does not include clothing and the odd chocolate bar. I think what comes in goes out and in other circumstances, she would be applauded for what she does in an average week.
“She is desperately sorry for the situation she has got herself in. She has asked me to ask you not to ban her at all. She will not commit anymore offences as she knows what she has done. She will not be before the courts again.”
But JP Maxine Hamer told her: “The bench takes speeding very seriously. We have heard a lot about your family circumstances and how you work for yourself and your husband as well as your travel.
"However, you have failed to meet the threshold needed for exceptional hardship. We have heard hardship and inconvenience but not exceptional hardship.''
