Katie Price pleads guilty over crash as family post ‘concerned and worried’ message on her Instagram

Katie Price has pleaded guilty to drink driving while disqualified and without insurance following a crash near her home.

The former glamour model, 43, was charged following the collision which took place on the B2135 near Partridge Green, Sussex, on Tuesday morning.

Price appeared in the dock at today before two magistrates wearing a pink jumper, where the court heard she told police she had taken drugs before the crash.

She was heard saying “I took drugs, I should not be driving, I admit it all”, the court was told. A drugs wipe also gave a positive reading for cocaine, prosecutor Debbie Jones said.

Defence solicitor Joe Harrington said: “She has had a lot of personal problems recently.

“Currently she is in the process of bankruptcy proceedings so her house may be repossessed. So quite a lot going on in this lady’s life, a really difficult period.”

Mr Harrington argued that the driving was a “one-off” incident.

He added: “As I understand it she had been drinking, she was lonely and she decided to go and see a friend who lived a relatively short distance away and that is when the incident happened.”

Chair of the bench Julie Hutton handed Katie Price an interim driving ban. Price was told that her sentence would be deferred on the condition that she have treatment at the Priory Centre, not commit any further offences, and be banned from driving in the interim.

It comes after Price’s family took to her Instagram account with a heartfelt public plea to say they were deeply “concerned and worried” about the mum-of-five’s wellbeing and overall mental health.

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The statement explained how the family had been concerned about “Kate’s wellbeing and overall mental health” for some time. “Today our worst fears nearly came true”, they wrote. “As a family we have been and will continue to help Kate get the help she needs.”

“We hope that she will realise she cannot battle her issues alone. We would kindly ask that the media and wider public give Kate the time she needs to seek the necessary treatment, so that she can hopefully return to the Kate we know and love as a mother, daughter and sister.

“We are concerned and worried about her deeply, we know she lives her life publicly and to many she is fair game, but as a family we hope she can find her path privately moving forward during this very difficult period in her life. We are not asking for sympathy - just that it is recognised that Kate is unwell.

“We take great comfort in reading the messages of support and love for Kate that we will pass on to her, in the hope that these positive messages will spur her on.”

After news of the crash emerged, concerned social media users flocked to Twitter to send much-needed well-wishes to the 43-year-old.

Alastair Campbell shared a photo of Price and Susanna Reid from her Good Morning Britain appearance on Monday, saying the star “seemed so well.”

Appearing on the show, Price said she is banned from driving until the end of the year.

Discussing her disabled son Harvey, 19, she said: “Harvey’s in Cheltenham now.

“He keeps ringing me saying, ‘Mummy I miss you, I need kisses and cuddles’, so it is quite hard because obviously I don’t get my licence back until December, so I can’t just whizz in the car down there and it’s not close.”

Price was not seriously injured in the incident.