has said she is ‘incredibly sorry’ and ‘sincerely grateful nobody was hurt’ after being spared jail for flipping her car while drunk, banned and high.
The former glamour model, 43, was told by a judge that she deserved to spend behind bars after committing her ninth motoring offence.
But she escaped with a suspended prison sentence because she complied with a requirement to attend the The Priory, a £6,800-a-week rehab centre — despite going out shopping while staying at the facility.
Fury was growing today over her sentence, as campaigners told of how they were ‘gobsmacked’ she avoided jail.
John Scruby, a trustee of the Campaign Against Drink Driving charity, told MailOnline the sentencing was ‘another case of a celebrity twisting the rules to escape justice’, adding the average person facing drink driving charges ‘cannot afford to go to a £6,000-a-week rehab centre’.
He also accused Price of ‘trying to play the victim’ in a case where ‘she is only a victim of her own stupidity and selfishness’.
Price was handed a 16-week suspended sentence and two-year ban at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, three months after she flipped her BMW on its side on a country lane near her home in West Sussex at around 6.20am on September 28.
In a statement on her Instagram page, Price issued a grovelling apology and woman domination said she ‘realised the damage my actions could have caused’.
She added: ‘I would like to thank my family — my children, my mum, dad, sister, brother, my partner Carl, Leigh, and my friends who have supported me throughout these past few months
‘It’s been a really difficult time and I’m incredibly sorry for my actions — I’m sincerely grateful nobody was hurt — I realise the damage my actions could have caused not only to another family, but to my own as well.
‘I’m now spending time getting better — mental health is a hidden illness and can strike at any time.
‘The triggers that cause my anxiety and behaviour are something I’m trying to understand, come to terms with, and makeup learn to control moving forward.
‘This will be a long process for myself and something I’ll continue to work on for the rest of my life.It’s also something I can work on with my family so we can progress on a new chapter.’
Sources close to Price say she was left ‘terrified’ by how close she came to being sent to prison and she is determined to use the experience to transform her life.
But her family fear she has checked out of the Priory ‘too early’ and are urging her to continue treatment as they are concerned she may relapse.