A social media influencer has been banned from the roads after driving her father’s company Porsche at 93mph along a motorway – and then told a court using taxis and trains to get to photoshoots would be too ”challenging” for her.
Lucia Campolucci-Bordi, 32, was disqualified from driving under the totting up scheme after a police officer clocked her speeding in the 142mph seven speed automatic Macan on the M57 near Liverpool.
However the mother of two from Southport, Merseyside, urged JPs not to ban her saying she needed her driving licence to get two and from media assignments and to care for her two young children who attend nursery and pre-school.
“I have had a look into getting taxis and trains but it would just be really challenging for me,” she claimed. She did not mention getting the bus and said she could not afford a chauffeur.
Magistrates in the Wirral rejected her application for exceptional hardship and disqualified her driving for six months after they heard she had continued to manage her business despite not driving since November when she received notification from the court about her hearing.
Campolucci-Bordi, seen here outside of court, was also fined £307 with £233 in costs and surcharge
She had already moved the children to a school and childcare closer to her home and that her grandparents were helping her with the school run.
The court heard Campolucci-Bordi who runs her own social media agency already had nine points on her licence for speeding and having no insurance when she was pulled over again on June 6 last year.
Tom Oglesby, prosecuting, said that a police officer’s attention was drawn to a grey Porsche Macan being driven by Campolucci-Bordi on the northbound stretch of the M57 between junctions 3 and 4 at 10.16am on June 6 as he believed it was driving in excess of the speed limit. The officer monitored the car’s speed over a 1.34 miles and found it be driving at an average of 93mph.
“The officer caused the vehicle to stop,” Mr Oglesby said, “The officer pointed out the excess speed and that she would be sent a notice of intended prosecution and she made no reply.”
In answering questions from the legal advisor, Campolucci-Bordi, who admitted speeding said: “I do a lot of client-facing work, going to meet clients and do content shoots. Obviously I take equipment with me for the content shoots like lighting but it is proving really difficult without a vehicle of my own because the clients are all over the country. They are not all local.
“We do social media, Instagram and TikTok for companies, for hair and beauty brands, skin care brands or aesthetic businesses. We will go to them to get their content and create their social media strategy.
“We get data. I have got a couple of girls who work for me. They do all the scheduling of the posts, client communications over Zoom and things like that – but they do not do the content or the actual client facing meetings. I will do all that.
When asked if she had considered employing a chauffeur she said. “I do not know if I would have the financials. I do not have much or any disposable income. I am the sole provider for my children and the profits I take, that pays for our living.
“I would have to consider sacrificing other things. I do not have any disposable income in the business so it would be really difficult. I got a couple of loans when we bought the house years ago as we had a couple of renovations that were done by cowboy builders. I repay those loans. and that is my debt.
”I lost a client in December because I could not go and get the content that we needed. It has been really challenging. But I would say more so because of the children than work but it has been difficult because I’ve not been able to get around to clients and clients shoots which I would normally be able to do.”
Campolucci-Bordi said she has two children, aged two and four. She said she has a mortgage on a property but she is living nearby at her parents’ house while she is going through a separation. She plans to move back into her property once her ex-partner has moved out.
She said her children’s nursery and the preschool were a 25 minutes drive away for her and that her grandfather who is 85 had been taking the children for her for the last few months. She said due to the distance she had moved the children nearer to where she lives in case she lost her licence.
“They have just started,” she said, “My nana will take them. It’s a bit much for him. It was a 25 minute journey. I thought that if I do not get my licence back it’s a bit too far for him. I have moved them to a nursery and childminder a bit closer to home now.”
“It is not an excuse but when the speeding offence happened it was just a difficult time. I had taken the children to my mother-in-law, which is about an hour’s drive away and they had been arguing and fighting in the car. They did not want me to leave. I was not focused.
“I know how awful it is to speed. I am usually very against it, especially if young kids are in the car. I was not in a very good headspace on that particular day especially.”
Campolucci-Bordi was also fined £307 with £233 in costs and surcharge. JP Beverley Dawson told her: “Exceptional hardship is always difficult to prove because it cannot just mean that you would lose your income or livelihood, which is of course an inconvenience. You have to prove that exceptional hardship will be caused to both yourself and other people as a result of losing your licence.
“Why did we not find exceptional hardship? Your job. You have already mentioned the use of contractors to do some work and there are a lot of talented people who can take shots. Maybe some of them drive and can pick up. But given that you are now using two contractors maybe one of which you could use as a contractor to do some of that content.
“You have shown us that you were able to keep the business going whilst you have not been driving. I know you mentioned you have not been able to get the big bucks as a result but you are showing us that you are able to manage.
“We also see that you have two children and they are now going to nursery and preschool closer to home. “You also have a supportive family who are able to help you from time to time.”