Ex-footballer guilty of dangerous driving

Last Modified: 13 May 2008
Source: ITN

Ex-footballer Steve Claridge has been found guilty of dangerous driving.

A jury at Coventry Crown Court took one hour and 45 minutes to decide that his driving on the M42 motorway on December 30, 2006, was dangerous.

The soccer pundit, of Fareham, Hampshire, was pulled over by an unmarked police car on the southbound carriageway between junctions 4 and 3, after repeatedly undertaking other vehicles on the road, the court heard.

The jury heard how the former Birmingham, Leicester and Portsmouth striker drove at speeds of around 100mph in "treacherous" conditions.

Claridge had denied reaching such speeds, telling jurors he was driving at "slightly in excess of 70mph", and was trying to leave the motorway to find a toilet.

He also denied that it was raining at the time of the alleged offence.

He told the court: "It certainly wasn't dangerous. It wasn't the best bit of driving I have ever done but it wasn't dangerous."

Following the verdict the court heard that Claridge already has nine points on his driving licence.

He was fined and given three points on November 1, 2005 for "failing to give information as to the identity of the driver", Mr Wilkins said.

He was also fined and given three points in August of the same year for a similar offence.

On December 29, 2005 he was issued with a fixed penalty notice for exceeding the speed limit on a motorway and given a further three penalty points, the court heard.

Adjourning sentencing until next month, Judge Peter Carr said he considered the dangerous driving conviction "a serious matter" and imposed an interim disqualification, banning Claridge from driving immediately.

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