A WOMAN who knocked down two young girls outside their school then fled the scene was unfit to drive and did not even have a licence, a court was told.

Selby magistrates heard Sarah Louise Gormley, 20, had not slept for 19 hours and felt unwell when she got behind the wheel of her boyfriend's BMW to take her younger brother to school.

As she arrived at Holy Family Roman Catholic School at Carlton, she lost control of the vehicle, smashing through railings going on to the grass and hitting the two girls. Neither girl was seriously injured, but Vivienne Walsh, prosecuting, said both were "distressed, shocked and bruised."

Gormley then fled the scene, leaving her brother in the car. She was traced to her home in George Street, Snaith, and arrested.

In court, she admitted driving without insurance, failing to stop after an accident, failing to report an accident and driving without a licence. Gormley had said she lost control of the car following a coughing fit.

She said: "She was spoken to about why she panicked and ran away. She was working as a care assistant and worked 12-hour shifts, four times a week.

"She had just worked a 12-hour shift and had not had any sleep. She had not slept for 19 hours, or eaten anything. She was not in a fit state to drive a vehicle."

Richard Minion, for the defence, said: "This is an extremely tragic situation which thankfully did not result in more serious injuries to the children."

Mr Minion told the court Gormley had returned home from work on the morning of November 15 to find her brother still in bed. He would have been unable to get to school on time by foot, so she phoned her boyfriend and asked if she could use his car.

Mr Minion said: "She did say to the police that she was aware she had hit one of the children. She went up to the child and said 'I'm so sorry'.

"She went home and did not know what to do," he said.

Presiding magistrate Ian Franks said it was a "serious matter" and adjourned the case for a pre-sentence report to be compiled by the probation service.

He told Gormley: "We are looking at possibly a high tariff for what you have done, and in particular we would like the probation service to look at unpaid work on supervision. It's going to be a community penalty."

Gormley will return to court on December 29.

Updated: 10:22 Friday, December 09, 2005