Police are considering an appeal against the sentence given to former glamour model Katie Price after she avoided a jail term for drink-driving following a crash near her home.
The 43-year-old was handed a 16-week suspended sentence at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday for the driving offence while being disqualified and not having insurance.
District Judge Amanda Kelly told Price she was unable to send her to prison because she had complied with requirements of the court including attending a rehabilitation centre and not to commit further offences.
Superintendent James Collis, head of roads policing for Sussex Police and Surrey Police, said officers are looking at whether it could be subject to appeal.
He said the sentencing, “as the judge explained, could have and should have been much worse and, in our view, Price is extremely lucky not to be spending Christmas behind bars”.
“Given the circumstances and her history of motoring offences, it’s clear she did not consider the risk of her actions to the wider public or the implications for her own family,” he added.
“We are now exploring whether we can appeal this sentence.”
Jonathan Karani, prosecuting, told the court that Price was involved in the collision on the B2135 near Partridge Green on September 28.
She had been driving to visit a nearby friend when the crash occurred at around 6.20am, but no witnesses had been identified with Price’s vehicle being discovered by a member of the public.
When he approached the vehicle, which had flipped on to its left side, he found Price slumped in the passenger seat. He pulled her out of the window.
Police arrived shortly afterwards and she admitted she should not have been driving, the court heard.
Price admitted the offences in a hearing at the same court on September 29.
At that hearing, her sentencing was adjourned on the condition that she have treatment at the Priory Centre, not commit any further offences, and be banned from driving in the interim.
Price was given a 16-week jail sentence suspended for 12 months, a two-year driving ban, 100 hours unpaid work, 20 sessions of rehabilitation work with probation, and was ordered to pay £213.
District Judge Kelly told the court that Price already owed £7,358 in relation to previous offences.
She told the defendant: “You appear to think that you are above the law.
“You have one of the worst driving records I have seen. You have been banned from driving on five occasions.
“The public may be appalled to hear that I can’t send you to jail today. But the law says that when a person has complied with the terms of their release then you have a legitimate expectation not to be sent to prison today, even though you deserve to spend Christmas behind bars.”