Katie Price found guilty of driving offence

The model, 32, was seen by police officers on a mobile phone while behind the wheel on the A23 at Bolney, West Sussex.

Her actions caused two other vehicles to move away as her 7.5 tonne vehicle drifted into their lane at 11.55am on February 19, magistrates heard.

Price was among eight people, including four adults and four children, travelling to Euro Disney in the vehicle, which she had driven only twice before.

Prosecutors said she was seen on the phone for two to three seconds by two officers after they drove alongside her in a patrol vehicle following the "careless" manoeuvre into the opposite lane.

In her evidence to the court, Price denied using her phone behind the wheel, insisting she had no reason to because the horsebox was equipped with hands-free bluetooth equipment.

Price, who already had seven points on her licence, was found guilty of not being in proper control of a vehicle.

She was fined £1,000, and ordered to pay a £15 surcharge and costs of £650 at Mid Sussex Magistrates' Court in Haywards Heath.

She also had three points added to her licence. Chairwoman of the bench Valerie Bender said: "We have considered the evidence in the offence and the relevant issue in this case is: was the driver distracted from driving with proper control by holding something in her hand?

"Our findings on the disputed issues are visual evidence from the DVD showing the horsebox to cross from lane one to lane two.

"Both officers gave evidence that they saw Miss Price holding a mobile phone in her right hand whilst driving. "We found the police officers to be credible witnesses. We are satisfied that the prosecution have proved the charge of driving whilst not in a position to have proper control beyond reasonable doubt."

Price declined to comment.

Outside court, Nick Freeman, the celebrity lawyer representing Price, said an appeal would be lodged against both conviction and sentence.

Price, who arrived for the one-day trial dressed in a fur-trimmed coat and black leggings, showed no emotion as she was convicted in front of her husband, cagefighter Alex Reid, who was in the courtroom's public seating area.

In her evidence, she said she veered "because I'm a typical woman driver" and denied using her gem-studded BlackBerry phone behind the wheel.

She said it was only the third time she had driven the vehicle and was "probably a bit scared" driving on a motorway.

Price, of Lunghurst Road, Woldingham, Surrey, told the court: "I'm just not used to a lorry that big. "I was probably a bit scared because it was on a motorway. I don't remember veering but it is quite difficult."

Asked how easy the horsebox was to drive, Price replied: "It's massive. It's not that easy. It's quite a big vehicle, it's like a boat."

She told police in a statement she may have been spraying perfume at the time when she was seen using her mobile phone by officers.

"I'm quite OCD," she told magistrates. "All my friends know that I'm always spraying perfume. I'm obsessed with it."

She told the court everyone was in an "excitable mood" in the vehicle and they had shortly left a petrol station where they bought sweets and refreshments for the journey when she was pulled over by police.

Speaking about drifting into the opposite lane, she said: "It was just a general mistake. I don't think it was that bad to be honest.

"I'm in a big lorry and I'm just getting used to it. I was over but I wasn't over 50% as I've been told."

Pc Phill Mann, of Sussex Police, told the court he saw Price making a texting motion on a handset as he drove alongside her before pulling her over.

The court saw police footage showing Price veering slightly across the carriageway in the horsebox moments before police approached her.

Prosecutor Rachel Beckett said the officers first saw the distinctive vehicle on the A23 at a location known locally as Jeremy's Corner.

She said: "Pc Mann observed a vehicle which he saw drifting slightly into lane two from lane one. "Pc Mann drove up next to the vehicle and saw Miss Price was driving and saw that she was using a mobile phone.

"When the defendant saw the police car, she held the device down. Pc Mann's colleague, PCSO (Edward) Mitchell, also saw Miss Price using the mobile phone for some two to three seconds."

When Price was pulled over, she told Pc Mann they might have seen a perfume bottle and not a mobile phone, the court was told. She retrieved a large bottle of perfume from a bag and showed it to Pc Mann, who told her it was not what had been seen in her hand moments earlier.

Ms Beckett said Price also showed the officer her mobile phone covered in coloured stones. Pc Mann told the court: "I saw a person who I know to be Katie Price in the driver's position and in her right hand she had what appeared to be a mobile phone.

"She had her thumb on the phone, and appeared to be texting. It was slim, black and palm-sized, like an iPhone. I think that's what I saw."

As soon as she saw the police alongside her, she put the handset down and slowed down before being pulled over with blue flashing lights, Pc Mann added.

He cautioned Price and told her she would be reported for using a mobile phone while driving and driving without due care and attention.

Describing her driving as "careless", Pc Mann said: "I believe she said that she wasn't using her mobile and that she was using perfume. "She leaned back into the back of the cab and pulled a large bottle of perfume out of a large zip bag.

"I said that wasn't the item I had seen. She got her phone out of the same bag and showed me that and said, 'Was it that?'.

"I couldn't recall whether that was the same one I had seen. It had coloured gemstones on it. That's not what I had seen in her hand."

Pc Mann said he reported her before allowing her on her way, with Mr Reid sitting in the front passenger seat.

During cross-examination, Mr Freeman said Pc Mann's assertion that the horsebox had taken up 50% of lane two was a "gross exaggeration and you are mistaken in that fact".

Mr Freeman suggested to the officer the drifting was typical among drivers and happened "quite regularly" on the road. He also cast doubt on Pc Mann's claim Price had been seen with a slim black phone, saying the gem-encrusted phone she produced for the officer was the only one she had.

"I suggest to you that your description was totally inaccurate to the extent that she didn't put anything down, she just pulled over," Mr Freeman told the officer.

Pc Mann replied: "I saw her hand drop to her right-hand side." PCSO Mitchell said he immediately knew who the horsebox belonged to after seeing it on television.

He said: "I looked at the vehicle and saw Miss Price who I believe was texting on her phone. "She was looking down at her phone pressing the phone with her right hand. She was texting or dialling a number. My view was very good."

He said he told Pc Mann what he had seen and they decided to pull her over. PCSO Mitchell stayed in the patrol car while Pc Mann went to question Price.

The case was adjourned before lunch after Mr Freeman put forward a submission that the proceedings were "defective".

He argued Price should not be convicted because she was told at the time she was being reported for using a mobile phone while driving and driving without due care and attention.

Mr Freeman said she was not told either at the time or within 14 days afterwards that she would be summoned to court for not being in proper control of a vehicle.

Ms Beckett said it seemed an "absurd" submission that, because the officer did not list the possible offences she could be charged with, the proceedings were defective.