Helen Flanagan shares cryptic post after appearing in court

Coronation Street star Helen Flanagan shared a cryptic post on Instagram after she was banned from driving for six months and handed a fine following a speeding case on Friday

Helen Flanagan was handed a six month driving ban on Friday(Image: PA)

Actress Helen Flanagan posted a cryptic quote on Instagram after receiving a driving ban. The former Coronation Street star, 34, had argued that being stopped from driving would cause her "exceptional hardship", but the court imposed a six-month ban and fined her on Friday.

Flanagan had insisted that her boyfriend Robbie Talbot was behind the wheel of her Audi when it was caught speeding twice in Merseyside in June last year, but she faced two charges of failing to provide information relating to the identification of a driver. Following her appearance at Wirral Magistrates' Court on Friday, the mother-of-three took to her Instagram story to share a post by podcast host Bryony Gordon.

It featured a scenic view of a sunset beach landscape with waves crashing against the shore. The image was overlaid with the words: "This too shall pass."

Helen at first insisted her boyfriend was behind the wheel

She added: "But what the f***?" The magistrates were not convinced that Flanagan, who already had six points on her licence, would face severe hardship due to a ban.

This is despite the star's claim that she is "struggling" financially and wouldn't be able to afford taxis to take her youngest son Charlie to nursery without a car. In court, Flanagan stated: "My job really is being a mum at home. Their dad works away. It's really difficult at the moment now for me to be earning money. I earn money on social media but it kind of varies what I earn.", reports the Mirror.

She told the court: "I think there might be a perception maybe that I would easily be able to afford a driver but that's quite far from the case. I've got enough money in my account to pay off my tax and my VAT and basically that's about it."

She revealed the challenges of living in a remote location in Bolton, Greater Manchester, stating she would "really struggle without a car" and disclosing an Uber to the nursery costs around £10. Flanagan, known for her role as Rosie Webster in Coronation Street from 2000 to 2012, admitted, "If I was doing that all the time it would be very, very expensive for me."

Beyond financial woes, Helen described the necessity of her car for taking her two older kids to after-school activities, visiting her therapist in Birmingham, and meeting her ex, footballer Scott Sinclair, to hand over the children.

Discussing their relationship, Flanagan confessed, "I've got a very difficult relationship with my ex-partner. It's very, very draining."

Helen Flanagan was in tears as she opened up on her financial woes

Helen also shared her personal battles with mental health, expressing, "I do struggle with anxiety and I have terrible OCD. I do really, really struggle with my ADHD so it does really impact my life in general really."

Model and mum-of-three Flanagan admitted to the court that she naively let her boyfriend respond to speeding fines on her behalf, saying: "I very stupidly and naively thought it was acceptable for my boyfriend to reply on my behalf to explain to the police it was him that (was) driving, it wasn't me."

Her defence lawyer, Patrick Boyers, urged the court to look past her social media influencer image: "She is a single mother of three children and she is doing her best. I would invite you to see round the haze of social media influencer branding. I would invite you to look at this case on the cold, hard facts of who is in front of you and I would invite you to find that exceptional hardship is a real possibility."

Flanagan agreed to pay the fine in £1,000 monthly installments after being slapped with six penalty points for each offence.

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