A WOMAN has been handed a suspended prison sentence and been banned from driving after she posted a video to Facebook taken whilst driving.

Kerry White, 35, from Scarborough, posted a video to her Facebook page of her filming a young child whilst she was driving, York Crown Court heard.

The footage was filmed by Miss White on her mobile phone whilst she was driving on Woodland Ravine and Manor Road in Scarborough on December 16 2017 and later posted to her Facebook profile.

She was caught after a member of public reported her video to police.

Officers investigating managed to identify the vehicle and location involved and subsequently recovered the original video from the defendant’s mobile phone.

Miss White refused to answer questions about the incident in interview and pleaded not guilty to driving a vehicle dangerously when charged to court.

Prior to her trial she changed her plea to guilty and was given a 12-month ban and sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for twelve months. She was also required to complete 20 days unpaid work and told she must pay a £115 victim surcharge.

Commenting on the case, road policing officer Mark Patterson, from North Yorkshire Police said: “As the footage clearly shows, Miss White’s driving that day was highly irresponsible and incredibly dangerous and it’s only through sheer luck she wasn’t involved in a serious collision.

“Her blatant  disregard for the safety of the child and traffic laws could have ended tragically and the consequences of her actions had she of lost control of her vehicle doesn’t bear thinking about.

“I’d like to thank the member of the public who reported this incident to us and I hope this message sends a clear message that this type of reckless behaviour will not be tolerated on our roads.”