Headmistress, 43, banned from driving after she’s caught speeding for FOURTH time in three years
A NURSERY school headmistress nabbed driving at 38mph could lose her job after she was barred from getting behind the wheel for six months.
Ursula Krystek-Walton, 43, was disqualified under the totting-up procedure after being caught speeding four times in less than three years.
The mum-of-one had begged to keep her driving licence under ”exceptional hardship” rules.
She argued she might be fired from her £57,000-a-year job at Thrive Childcare and Education if banned as she needs her car to visit children’s nurseries across the UK.
But magistrates in Merseyside rejected her plea – because any hardship she might suffer is ”not exceptional enough.”
The court heard Krystek-Walton, of Stockport in Greater Manchester, already had nine points on her licence for three separate speeding offences.
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She was then caught yet again after driving her Mini Countryman at 38mph in Leeds Street, Liverpool. The street is a 30mph zone.
Krystek-Walton, who is responsible for 37 nursery schools, said she drives to up to 10 nurseries between Aberdeen and Manchester every week.
When asked what her employers had said about the possibility of her losing her licence, she replied: “They’ve said, ‘We’ll wait and see what happens.’
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“They will see what they can do with my role. I couldn’t do my current role but there may be a different role essentially.
“But there’s a risk to my job. They haven’t confirmed anything.”
Krystek-Walton said she often drives her parents, both of whom have cancer, to hospital appointments, church, shopping and gardening centres.
However, both can drive themselves, she admitted.
Telling the court that she earns £3,400 a month after tax, she added: “I’m very sorry and ashamed it has come to this.
“I apologise and I accept full responsibility.”
Prosecutor Matt Routley said a driving ban would “make things a little bit difficult”, but not change the defendant’s situation “dramatically”.
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“You have not been able to say that you would lose your job,” he said.
“You said there could be some sort of reorganisation so that you would not lose your job, though there might be a financial implication to that.”
As well as the ban, Krystek-Walton was fined £231 for the offence and ordered to pay £144 costs.
Magistrates said: “As you have heard, the test is a very, very high bar.
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“It’s accepted that people in these situations will suffer hardship, but we have to determine whether it is exceptional.
“In your case we do not find that it is exceptional.”