Bedlington mum with 12 penalty points banned from roads after claiming she had clean driving licence

A mum claimed to have a clean driving licence, despite having 12 penalty points, in order to get cheaper car insurance.

Laura McBride fraudulently filled out an online form but failed to disclose her previous motoring convictions.

A court heard that, having amassed 12 penalty points, the 25-year-old should have been disqualified but wasn't as it "had been missed" by the DVLA.

McBride was pullled over by police a month after committing the fraud and was found to have no insurance as it had been voided.

Now, McBride, of Cherrytree Drive, Bedlington, has been fined a total of £575 and banned from the roads for six months after she admitted making a false statement to obtain insurance and driving with no insurance.

Sentencing her, District Judge Bernard Begley said: "You have pleaded guilty to the offence but fraud is fraud and that's what you have done here and, no doubt, to get your premium lower than it should have been because disclosure of that information would have increased it substantially so.