Navdeep Singh, Emily Thom face Orange court for mobile phone offences

Navdeep Singh, 34, of Romano Drive, had his phone on his lap when he was filmed by a road-side camera. Magistrate David Day said Singh would still have points left on his driver's licence.

"I think for general deterrence there should be a conviction," Mr Day said.

In another matter, a delivery driver on her provisional licence wrote a letter to Orange Local Court on Monday saying she was driving with a phone in her hand because it had fallen from the cradle and she was checking the screen.

Emily Amelia Thom, 18, of Turquoise Way, was photographed with a phone in her hand on the Northern Distributor Road at 6.56pm on April 23.

She said she programmed the delivery address into her phone before setting out but when she was on the Northern Distributor Road the phone fell from the cradle and "slammed down" onto the centre console so she briefly picked it up to check the screen when the traffic camera caught her.

She was not present in court but said she realised she did the wrong thing and asked for leniency saying she relied on her driver's licence to work and she could lose her licence as a result of the conviction.

Magistrate David Day said there was a need for general deterrence so she must be convicted. He fined Thom $200 and ordered her to pay $400 in prosecution costs to Transport for NSW.

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