A DEPRESSED mum tried to dodge a speeding conviction by blaming it on her boyfriend, a court heard.

Bonnie Taylor was already banned from driving under the totting up rules when she was caught on camera speeding at Wynyard, Stockton.

Rather than take the rap, the 48-year-old said her now ex partner Adrian Draycott had been at the wheel at the time of the offence in June last year.

The court appearance yesterday (Friday, February 5) marked a low point in a steady decline for the mother-of-two who had lost both her parents and walked out on her husband.

Her relatives sobbed with relief when she escaped prison after admitting perverting the course of justice.

Prosecutor David Crook told Teesside Crown Court: "The defendant was disqualified and was driving at the time she was arrested. She named her then partner Adrian Draycott as the driver on that day.

"The address she gave was where she was living at the time but the relationship ended.

"On July 15, Mr Draycott became aware of the situation when he was asked to forfeit his driving licence. He did the necessary and the conviction was set aside."

In a statement, Mr Draycott said: "I have a clean driving licence and I am always very careful not to break the speed limit. I need my licence for work and this could have had repercussions for myself and my employer."

Jim Withyman, mitigating, said Taylor, of The Meadows, Wynyard, had seen her life disintegrate.

He said: "She was living a happy life at home with her two children and her husband.

"There have been a number of traumas in her life, starting with the death of her father. Two years later, her mother died of cancer and she decided she was not happy both generally and in her marriage and she split up with her husband."

He said she was suffering from depression and mental health problems at the time of her offence.

Mr Withyman said: "She knew she had driven the car when she shouldn't have done and gave her ex partner's details out of panic, not out of malice."

He said she had been estranged from her family but was now back in their lives and was taking medication for her depressive condition.

Judge Tony Briggs sentenced her to six months in prison, suspended for two years.

He told her: "It is perfectly plain that for a variety of reasons you have been subjected to a considerable degree of pressure but it appears now that you have some assistance available to you."