A TV golf presenter who decided to have a solo baby using a sperm donor has been banned from driving despite telling a court of the gruelling pressures of single motherhood.
When her son was born two years ago, Sarah Stirk, 46, told of her lone journey through IVF and admitted: "I know being a single, working mum isn't going to be easy... but I'll make it work."
Magistrates heard how her hectic schedule, raising her toddler while covering tournaments around the world for Sky Sports, has been even harder than she imagined.
But despite her emotional plea to keep her driving licence for the sake of her two-year-old son, magistrates rejected her claim she'd suffer "exceptional hardship" and banned her anyway.
Sarah, who also came out as being gay as she announced her solo pregnancy using a Scandinavian donor, revealed the rigors of commuting from York to London while leaving her little boy with a nanny at weekends.
Travelling 25-30,000 miles a year, she racked up 12 points on her licence and appeared before Harrogate magistrates to plead against disqualification. Giving evidence, Sarah told the court she moved back to North Yorkshire from London when she became pregnant, living in a converted farmhouse in the countryside outside York.
She said: "Having my baby on my own, I needed to be close to my family support but the logistics are not easy as my job is in London and I commute there for work.
"I work a lot of weekends and evenings and unsociable hours, from 5-6pm through to one or two in the morning because many of the events we cover are in the United States.
"I'm a single parent and my son is two. My parents live in the locality and do everything they can, but both are in their 70s. I need my job to provide for my family and losing my licence would have a catastrophic effect on my career, I may lose my job if I'm unable to drive.
"I wanted my son on my own and although it isn't easy I make it work and I manage." She said she typically works Thursday through to Sunday in London, leaving her son with a nanny and driving back on Monday mornings.
Sarah told the bench: "Two thirds of the work I do is in the studio but if I'm on location at a golf course I could be anywhere in the UK and I also work overseas and drive overseas.
"I would be unable to keep doing my job if I was unable to drive." She said that despite earning a "good salary" she was paying "extortionate" childcare fees and would be unable to afford to hire a driver.
However her impassioned plea did not impress JPs, who heard her most recent offence was driving at 83 mph on a 70 mph A-road in North Yorkshire earlier this year. The offence took her to 12 penalty points, at which point a ban is likely under the totting up procedure other than in exceptional cases.
Presiding magistrate Philip Morris told her: "You could suffer professional and personal inconvenience but we do not believe these inconveniences meet the burden of proof we must be satisfied with to merit a case of exceptional hardship.
"We therefore place six points on your licence and disqualify you from driving for six months." Sarah was found to be in the highest salary band which would normally carry a £1,000 fine, but it was reduced to £666 because of her early guilty plea to the offence.
She was also ordered to pay £356 court costs. In interviews two years ago Sarah told how she spent £50,000 on IVF to have her dream baby, with mum Annie helping her choose the donor.
She said at the time: "'I've waited a long time for (my baby. I want to enjoy every minute of having him here. I love my job and plan to go back. With family support and paid childcare, I will make it work. But for now, I can't get enough of my baby. I stare at him, and a feeling of total love and awe overwhelms me."