S Club singer Rachel Stevens tearfully told a court how she was left traumatised by a violent jewellery robbery and witnessing a shooting, as she made a failed bid to dodge a driving ban over a series of speeding tickets.
The 45-year-old popstar and radio DJ told magistrates she was “absolutely terrified” when she was grabbed around the neck in an ambush at her north London home.
Just a few weeks later Ms Stevens was embroiled in a second drama as she dined with her family at the Harry Morgan eatery in St John’s Wood, when a gunman opened fire in a suspected gangland shooting.
The singer fought back tears at Willesden magistrates court as she recalled the 2009 incidents, saying she still suffers from post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and now fears being in cars alone with strangers.
Ms Stevens made an emotional bid to keep hold of her driving licence despite racking up 21 penalty points from five speeding incidents since 2019.
She said a road ban would impact on her upcoming S Club tour, cause upheaval for her school run duties, and she insisted she would be a good driver in the future, telling the court: I’ve absolutely learned my lesson, without a doubt.”
But magistrates rejected her plea, suggested she should hire a driver, and imposed a six-month road ban plus fines and fees totalling £2,900.
At the time of the robbery in June 2009 police suspected the singer, fresh from a stint on Strictly Come Dancing, had been deliberately tailed to her Primrose Hill home as she returned from a mid-afternoon shopping trip.
“I was attacked in my flat”, she told magistrates. “A man jumped into my front door. He had his hand around my mouth and his arm around my neck.”
Asked if her celebrity status was behind the robbery, Ms Stevens replied: “I think so - there were a few other people in the public eye who were targeted at the time.”
She said of the shooting: “I was in a restaurant when a gunman had come into another part of the restaurant.
“I was with my family, and we all went under the table. Later we found out it was a gang situation, shots were fired in the air.
“I was incredibly terrified.”
The star, who found fame with S Club 7 in 1999, added: “The two incidents that happened so close together definitely caused a lot of post-traumatic stress. After that, I felt scared to even leave my house, get out of my car and I was just very fearful.”
She said she does not take taxis alone and has not used the “claustrophobic” Tube for years, as she urged magistrates to spare her a driving ban as it would cause “exceptional hardship”.
Ms Stevens landed herself in trouble when – in September last year – she was pulled over by a Metropolitan Police officer when driving her BMW X3 series through Regent’s Park at 41mph – more than double the 20mph speed limit.
She already had nine points on her licence from previous offences, and two months later, on November 7 last year, she was pulled over again on the same stretch of road while driving at 42mph.
In her bid to avoid a driving ban, Ms Stevens opened up about the breakdown of her 12-year marriage to childhood sweetheart Alex Bourne.
Urging the court to let her continue driving so she can take their two daughters to school, she said tearfully: “In the last year, my priority has been keeping them feeling safe and secure. It has been a real upheaval for them.
“There has been so much change in their lives, I want them to feel as secure and safe as possible.”
She also said a driving ban would impact on rehearsals for the upcoming S Club tour of North America.
“I never want to let anyone down and not be there. I take my job very seriously”, she said. “We are a team, we all make sure we are always on time doing a job. We all rely on each other to make sure we are there as a team, doing our best.”
Passing sentence, the panel of three magistrates told Ms Stevens she had been driving at an “exceptionally dangerous speed…when pedestrians and cyclists are around”.
Noting her “public transport difficulties” and the inconvenience of a ban, they concluded: “We find in your circumstances you have not demonstrated exceptional hardship and you could consider hiring a driver for this period of disqualification, to assist you on the school run and with commitments where a driver is not supplied.”
Ms Stevens was ordered to surrender her driving licence, pay £2,000 in fines plus an £800 victim surcharge and £100 in costs.
