Former This Morning star Holly Willoughby has pleaded guilty to knocking a man off a scooter while driving her £25,000 Mini Cooper
Holly Willoughby has pleaded guilty to knocking a man off a scooter. The mum-of-three, 44, was driving without due care and attention after colliding with the victim near her £3m home in August, a court heard.
A hearing took place today at Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court in London, although Holly, whose name appeared in court documents as Holly Baldwin – which is her married name – did not attend. The former This Morning star pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention via post.
The court was shown footage of Holly turning right into a side street in her £25,000 black Mini Cooper without indicating and hitting the oncoming white Piaggio scooter.
The victim, who was not named, was seen flying off his bike after hitting Holly’s car. He sustained a fractured vertebra in his neck and a broken toe.
Holly Willoughby did not appear in court after being charged with driving without due care and attention (
Karwai Tang/WireImage)
Mum-of-three, Holly, was today handed six points on her licence and fined £1,653. The presenter was also ordered to pay £130 in prosecution costs and a victim surcharge of £661.
Aisling Byrnes, defending, said the TV host had suffered a ‘momentary lapse judgement’, telling the court: “She has full remorse for this.
“This was not aggravated by excessive speed or anything with the weather conditions. However, this error is one which is completely out of character, she has an entirely clean driving record and is otherwise of exemplary character.
“She is extremely remorseful, she left her vehicle, she offered him her phone and water and she remained there until responders arrived.”
Meanwhile, Prosecutor, Geraldine Dickinson, said: “The defendant was driving [the Mini] in Barnes. The intention was to turn right, which she did without indicating and the rider was thrown from the motorbike. This resulted in the injury to the rider: a c7 fracture and a broken toe.
“I do have a statement from the victim. He was riding his white Piaggio scooter, approximately 180 metres before the traffic lights, which were showing red at the time.”
The victim’s statement read: “I was travelling at a speed of around 20mph and was slowing down to stop.
“As I was level with the black Mini Cooper the driver turned right without indicating in order to enter the road. This caused me to be thrown to the ground in the carriageway.”
Passing sentence magistrate David Charnley said: “Ms Baldwin has pleaded guilty at the first opportunity to driving without due care and attention.
‘There was no use of vehicle indicators and mirrors were either not checked or for some reason, Ms Baldwin did not see the motorbike rider.”
It comes as Holly was said to be making a TV comeback after quitting This Morning two years ago.
Her latest gigs have included You Bet! with Stephen Mulhern, which she quit in March, and Celebrity Bear Hunt with Bear Grylls, shown by streaming giant, Netflix, which was axed this year.
ITV reality series Dancing On Ice was also canned this year by ITV leaving Holly without a hosting role for the first time in over 20 years.
