Chelsea footballer Danny Drinkwater has been banned from the roads after ploughing his £125,000 Range Rover through a wall while twice the legal drink-drive limit.
Drinkwater, 29, who had two female passengers in his car, caused £50,000 worth of damage to the vehicle and suffered a grazed forehead, Stockport Magistrates’ Court heard.
He pleaded guilty to drink driving during a brief appearance in the dock, before he was banned from the roads for 20 months and ordered to do 70 hours of community service.
He was also given a 12-month community order and ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs and an £85 victim surcharge.
Subi Chowdhury, prosecuting, told the court Drinkwater himself called emergency services after the crash at about 12.30am on April 8.
His car had gone through a wall on Ashley Road, Mere, near to Tatton Park, a country house in Cheshire.
Paramedics and police arrived and Drinkwater admitted to officers he had been drinking.
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His road-side test proved positive and he was taken to Middlewich Police station.
There he gave a reading of 87 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, with the legal limit being 35 microgrammes.
Drinkwater was then put in the cells, the court heard, and charged with drink-driving.
Drinkwater was part of Leicester’s championship-winning side (Mike Egerton/PA)
Robin Sellars, defending, said Drinkwater was “fully compliant” with police after his arrest and said he had been to a private function, with a friend expected to drive him home.
However, his friend was unable to do so, so Drinkwater decided to drive himself to his home on Bollington Lane, Nether Alderley, Cheshire.
Mr Sellars added: “He only had himself to blame. He understands he’s done wrong.
“He absolutely knows he’s going to be banned. He knows he’s lost the privilege of driving.
“He instructs me he will be employing a driver.”
Mr Sellars said Drinkwater had no previous convictions and asked for the defendant to be punished by way of a fine, rather than community service.
He handed up to the bench paperwork of Drinkwater’s income, which was not revealed in open court.
District Judge Mark Hadfield, reading the paperwork, replied: “This is monthly, is it?”
He rejected the defence request for Drinkwater, now living in Oakshott, Surrey, to pay a fine instead of a community work penalty.
He added: “The alcohol limit is around two and a half times the legal limit. You knew when you got behind the wheel of that vehicle you should not have been driving.”
Drinkwater nodded to the judge as he was sentenced and was told to see his probation officer before leaving court.
The Sun reported previously that Drinkwater crashed his Range Rover after attending a “chav-themed” charity party.
He signed for Chelsea from league-winning Leicester City in 2017 for £35 million but has failed to make his mark in the London side.
He has not featured under Italian manager Maurizio Sarri or played a competitive game for 13 months.
He started his football career as a trainee with Manchester United and has also played for Watford, Huddersfield, Cardiff and Barnsley.
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