Driver who nudged Insulate Britain protesters accuses police of ‘double standards’ after conviction

A mother who was on the school run when she nudged Insulate Britain protesters with her Range Rover has criticised police over “double standards” after her conviction. 

Sherrilyn Speid, 35, pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to dangerous driving after “jerking her car into the backs of protesters” sitting on the road in Essex at 8.30am on Wednesday October 13.

Speid, from Grays, Essex, was sentenced at Basildon Magistrates’ Court on Friday where she was disqualified from driving for a year, handed a community order and ordered to pay £240 - a £40 fine, £95 victim surcharge and £105 in costs.

Chairman of the bench Susan Hawkins handed Speid a community order for 12 months, which includes 20 days of rehabilitation activity. “We do feel it is serious enough for us to do that,” she said.

Speid was disqualified from driving for 12 months until March 28 2023 - following an interim ban she received at the previous hearing on March 28.

She was also told that she will have to retake her test.

Speaking outside court, the 35-year-old apologised for her actions and said she was “just a working mum who was trying to get my boy to school that morning”.

“I wanted to get him to school and I had to get to work. I’m self-employed, if I don’t get to work, I don’t get paid,” she said. 

The mother, who works as a counsellor for vulnerable children, criticised the police for bringing the action against her even though one of the protesters wrote to the prosecution to say they did not support the case.  

“The protesters didn’t support the court case, I’ve been told. I was even told the protester was willing to come to court to give evidence saying she was not hurt and did not receive any medical attention,” she said. 

‘Police trying to make an example of me’ 

“It’s the police that have pushed this. They are really going for this.

“They are definitely trying to make an example out of me because it was high profile and because I got fame from it.

“It was a nudge, just to get them to move. There are a lot of examples of far worse driving where people don’t get treated like this.

“I think it’s double standards. We [drivers delayed by the protests] all called the police and they did not come.”

The court heard that she had been at the wheel of her black Range Rover Sport when she came across an Insulate Britain protest.

Prosecutor Ashley Petchey said three demonstrators were sitting across the road and queues of traffic had built up behind them.

Speid got out of her vehicle and “remonstrated” with the protesters, the court heard, and the scene was caught on camera by a passer-by and the footage quickly went viral online.

Mr Petchey said Speid, who cried in the dock throughout the hearing, was “clearly very angry and agitated by the situation”.

He added that she was not using “excessive speed” and “was using the brakes quite harshly”.

However Lauren Hebditch, defending, told the court that Speid was an “inspiring” woman who was “under severe pressure and stress” that week, having just left an abusive relationship of 12 years.

Ms Hebditch said her client had just moved into a new home after staying in a safe house and was taking new medication prescribed for her mental health.

“She accepts her actions - she cannot watch the footage, she cannot bear it,” Ms Hebditch told the court. 

“She does not believe it is her she is watching. She is mortified.”