April Louise Trengrove, aged 28, of White Circle, Mudgee, was convicted and disqualified for three months.

In the police facts submitted to the court for sentence, officers were patrolling the Canowindra Road, Canowindra, at 10.20am on May 19, 2020, when Trengrove's vehicle was travelling in the opposite direction.

The Automatic Number Plate Recognition unit fitted to the police vehicle alerted officers that the registered owner of the approaching car, Trengrove, could be driving while her licence was suspended. Police noted that a woman was driving.

Officers checked with Roads and Maritime Services and confirmed that Trengrove was indeed suspended due to demerit point loss, then performed a U-turn and followed the vehicle in order to stop it. The vehicle turned onto an unnamed dirt road and stopped.

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When police approached the vehicle Trengrove was in the back seat, a male was in the front passenger seat and the driver seat was unoccupied.

Trengrove admitted to officers at the scene that she had been driving, but claimed to have "fixed" her licence suspension at the Roads and Maritime Services. However, police informed Trengrove it wasn't possible to have a licence suspension lifted in such a way.

Further checks by officers revealed that Trengrove's licence was suspended for a period of three months from March 11, 2020.

In Mudgee Local Court last Wednesday, Magistrate David Day read from the police facts submitted and said despite what the defendant told officers "it is clear Mrs Trengrove knew she shouldn't have been driving".

"She was told on March 11 that she couldn't drive and she's stopped on May 19... the relevant factor is when police stopped her the driver's seat was empty," he said.

Magistrate Day added Trengrove would've also been aware of the suspension upon entering into a payment plan with State Debt Recovery.