Lamia Abdo fronts Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court for speeding and driving while disqualified

A primary school teacher has argued she shouldn’t lose her licence despite speeding at 123km/h because she’s “scared” of using public transport.

A schoolteacher has pleaded guilty to speeding while disqualified.

A primary school teacher has argued she shouldn’t lose her licence despite speeding at 123km/h because she’s “scared” of using public transport.

Lamia Abdo, 21, fronted Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday via a video link, where she pleaded guilty to speeding and driving while disqualified.

In January 2023, Abdo was pulled over after she was detected driving at 123km/h on Pascoe Vale Rd in Jacana.

Further inquiries revealed Abdo, who lives in Altona, was disqualified from driving for 12 months from November 2021.

Abdo’s defence lawyer, Younis Yehia, told the court his client had a “lapse in judgment” and asked the court for leniency to avoid a licence loss because of her fear of using public transport.

“My client was assaulted, robbed and slapped in the face on Flinders Street station two years ago, and she sees a psychologist to deal with that trauma,” he said.

Mr Yehia said Abdo did not want to lose her driving license because she was “scared of public transport” and asked the court to consider letting her off on a good behaviour bond without conviction.

“She is a working primary school teacher … my client was 20 at the time … her mum and dad are divorced, and she often drives to Sydney to see her dad,” he said.

However, Magistrate Jonathan Klestadt said a good behaviour bond was “absolutely out of the question”.

“Everybody knows how important having a driving licence is … to live a normal life in the community .. and the threat to losing licence is supposed to minimise the risk of bad driving,” he said.

“This is the third time you were detected driving at very high speed … you drove in an extraordinarily dangerous manner … and your mental health does not explain it.

“The offending is compounded by the fact that six months before, you were caught driving at a similar amount of speed, and your licence was suspended already for that.”

Mr Klestadt told Abdo she was “just like the rest of us” and must obey the law.

“Disobedience in this manner can be tragic … you may be a model member of the community with your responsibility to your students and parents. But just like all of us, you could be killed or seriously injured if you continued to drive like this,” he said.

Abdo was convicted and fined $1750, with her licence suspended for nine months.

Mr Klestadt told Abdo that her penalty would be higher if she were found driving while disqualified.