Adelaide mother Yasmin El-Masri learns her fate after driving 51 km per hour over the speed limit while heavily pregnant
A heavily pregnant young mother who drove 51km/h over the speed limit through city streets believing she was in labor has learned her fate in court.
Yasmin El-Masri, from Gulfview Heights, was 31 weeks pregnant when she was clocked driving at 111km/h in a 60km/h zone near St Marys in Adelaide’s south on May 27 last year.
When she was stopped by South Australian police, El-Masri, 25, told them she needed to go to hospital.
She was driving with an invalid license at the time and provided false personal details to officers, the Adelaide Magistrates Court heard.
Yasmin El-Masri (photo) was 31 weeks pregnant when she drove at a speed of 111 km/h in a 60 km zone in May last year
Officers followed El-Masri and escorted her to the hospital.
El-Masri’s lawyer told the court her client had a medical defense, claiming she was in a medical emergency.
“Ms El-Masri was essentially pregnant at the time, she was 31 weeks pregnant,” Christina Chrisakas told the court.
‘She was driving disqualified and she was speeding – and in the end we say she had a defense because she was having contractions and she thought she was in labour.
Under Australian law it is possible to raise a defense on the basis of ‘necessity’.
The defense must prove that their client committed an act, because if he had not, he would have been in “imminent danger.”
She pleaded guilty at the Magistrates Court to exceeding the speed limit by 45 kilometers or more and giving false personal details
El-Masri was examined at the hospital upon arrival, but did not give birth until several weeks later.
She calls herself a “devoted mummy” on her Instagram account.
She pleaded guilty in court to exceeding the speed limit by 45 kilometers or more and giving false personal details.
The charges of driving disqualification and failure to comply with a bail agreement were withdrawn by the prosecutor.
Taking into account the six-month disqualification that El-Masri had already served, magistrate Simon Smart denied her the right to drive for a further seven days.
She was fined $3250 and convictions were recorded.