Kirsty Gallacher has blasted a judge for showing ‘no empathy’ as she was banned from driving for six months after being caught speeding.
The TV presenter, 49, appeared in court today, where admitted the offence but asked not to be banned so she could continue to drive for family and work commitments.
She was caught by a speed camera going 35mph in a 30mph zone near her luxury home in Maidens Green, Berkshire, on 1 April 2025.
The single mother pleaded guilty at High Wycombe Magistrate’s Court to a single charge of speeding, but appealed the driving ban, stating that she relies upon driving to take care of her two teenage sons, to access medical care, and for work.
Gallacher told the court that she couldn’t afford to pay for a taxi, or a private driver as she is the sole financial provider for her two children.
The presenter earns £150,000 a year presenting Gold Radio and told the court she has around £80,000 in savings.
Gallacher has three previous speeding offences. In a separate incident in 2017, she was spotted driving her car erratically and found to be almost three times over the legal limit for alcohol.
District Judge Arvind Sharma told her today: ‘I accept that things will be harder for you, but those are all manageable.
‘I don’t accept that your son needs a lift every morning, and you have adequate money saved up that you can use taxis for your children and yourself.’
She was also fined a total of £1044 for the offence.
Gallacher spoke to the Daily Mail exclusively and said that the decision was a ‘shock’.
She said: ‘There’s no empathy. I’m just an ordinary mum with plates spinning, I do everything. With my health as well, it’s going to be very difficult.’
At the time, she had nine points on her licence, for three previous speeding offences which took place on September 9, 2023, August 3, 2024 and August 9, 2024.
The court heard that the speed was recorded by manned enforcement equipment.
Gallacher has a benign brain tumour which has left her deaf in one ear and suffers tinnitus as a result. She attends appointments in Oxford following recent radiotherapy.
She said public transport is not reliable enough near her rural home for her youngest son to get to school, or to his extracurricular activities, which include golfing, following in the footsteps of Gallacher’s father, a professional golfer and Ryder Cup captain.
She told the court: ‘I am not a precious person, I am very humble. I am not saying that I can’t use public transport. We have all now and again done that.’
Ms Sophia Dower, representing the TV presenter said that Gallacher is ‘the epitome of a one-woman-band’.
In court, Gallacher said of her health issues: ‘I have a brain tumour, an acoustic neuroma – it is benign.
‘But it’s growing very fast. They have monitored it for the last three years. I am now doing radiotherapy.
‘We don’t know if the radiotherapy is going to work, if it will shrink [the tumour] or not. It’s a bit of a suck it and see situation.’
Last month, the radio host was left ‘shocked and afraid’ after being attacked on the street in London.
She told her near-400,000 Instagram followers that a man dressed ‘all in black’ had ‘kicked me like a football’ from behind.
Ms Gallacher said for the first time today that police think it was a targeted attack.
She told the court: ‘I was walking to my car. It’s a 12-minute walk. I was walking the same way I always walk. There were lots of people around.
‘A gentleman was walking at me on the street. I moved out of the way, I thought it was strange.
‘He brushed past me, turned around and kicked me very hard. He assaulted me in the street.
‘The police now believe I was targeted, that this was targeted. The police have all the CCTV footage and an image of him.’
She added: ‘I’m broken at the moment, from everything.
‘I’m broken from the health issues, exacerbated by the assault. I’m very sad to be standing here and I’m sorry.
‘I feel a bit broken. In general, my confidence is terrible. I’m second-guessing everyone behind me. I’m seeing someone for my anxiety.
‘I’m aware of London’s risks or any big city’s risk, but I didn’t expect this to happen. I’m a one-man band.
‘It is the way it is. I’m as careful as I can be… I don’t throw my money around.’
‘I’m a mum who has worked very hard to this point, to make sure my children’s needs are met.’
In August 2017, Gallacher was arrested in Eton, Berkshire, after police were called to reports of a vehicle being driven erratically.
She was breath-tested and found to have 106 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, almost three times the legal limit of 35.
At the time, she told the court that she had driven the morning after drinking the previous night.
She pleaded guilty at Slough Magistrates’ Court and was banned from driving for two years, ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid community work, and required to pay court costs and a victim surcharge.
