Baseball bat wielded by ex led to mother offending

She drove when banned

A MOTHER who was banned from driving fled her home in her car when her ex-partner started damaging her property with a baseball bat because she felt she had “no other way out”, a court heard.

Lorna Weedon admitted driving when disqualified when she appeared at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court.

It happened after her former partner began throwing her clothes out of the window and smashing up her belongings in November last year.

Weedon, 30, of Turner Avenue, Heanor, chose to escape in her car and then pulled over to call the police. But when she was interviewed, she admitted she had been banned from driving earlier in the year.

Lynn Bickley, prosecuting, said the incident took place on November 9 at 4.30pm. She said: “Weedon contacted police regarding an incident of domestic violence between her and her partner and as a result police attended the address.

“When interviewed, the defendant stated how she fled the scene in her vehicle while she had been disqualified from driving.”

The probation service read out a statement in court concerning the domestic violence incident and stated the couple had been together for six months.

The statement read: “In question of the domestic violence incident, Weedon’s ex-boyfriend was throwing clothes out of the window and damaging property with a baseball bat. Weedon got in her vehicle and left the scene.

“She drove into the road, phoned the police and waited for them.

“When she saw them, she followed them in the vehicle.

“She believed there was no other way out. She thought if she had run away, he would have followed her and she fled in the car for her safety. She had been disqualified from driving for 20 months.

“She had got her car on finance and decided to continue paying the instalments. The car has now been returned to the company.”

The court heard how the relationship had now ended and that Weedon was now single and spent most of her time caring for her 10-year-old son.

Weedon was fined £250 for driving while disqualified, was ordered to pay £85 in court costs and had to pay a victim surcharge, taking her total amount to pay to £365. Lorna Weedon