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WITH a "lot to lose" and no licence, a woman brought herself one step closer to time in prison after she was caught driving to help family.
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Mildred Jane Parsons, 42, of Noreen Place, Orange, was before Bathurst Local Court on April 19 where she pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified.
Parsons was behind the wheel of a silver Toyota Yaris heading east along Brilliant Street in Bathurst about 7.30am on January 15, 2023 when she saw police and quickly pulled to the curb, court papers said.
Police said they did a U-turn and activated their warning lights as they pulled up behind Parsons, who was the first of two women to get out of the car by the driver's door.
The court heard police approached Parsons and asked for her licence but she didn't have it.
Officers were given information to do checks on the RMS system when they found Parsons had never held a driver's licence before and was disqualified from getting one until January 30, 2027.
"I just had to take them [family] up here," Parsons said to police.
Aboriginal Legal Service solicitor Mr Naveed told the court during Parsons' sentencing that she had a misguided feeling at the time she was helping family, which was "no excuse".
Mr Naveed mentioned as part of his submissions that Parsons had not been in custody since 2016 and now had "a lot to lose" as a mother and full time carer.
"I know it's really hard when you're the carer of all these people to say 'no'. It's a hard lesson you have to learn," Magistrate Elizabeth Ellis said to Parsons.
"But, excuses are not going to keep you out of jail."
Parsons was placed on a 12-month intensive correction order with the condition she do 80 hours of unpaid community service work.
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