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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Spurs footballer gets driving ban | Spurs footballer gets driving ban |
| (41 minutes later) | |
| Premier League and England footballer David Bentley has been banned from driving for a year after admitting drinking and driving. | Premier League and England footballer David Bentley has been banned from driving for a year after admitting drinking and driving. |
| The Tottenham Hotspur player crashed his Porsche into a lamppost at Northaw, Hertfordshire, after drinking four pints and two spirit measures at a gig. | The Tottenham Hotspur player crashed his Porsche into a lamppost at Northaw, Hertfordshire, after drinking four pints and two spirit measures at a gig. |
| The 24-year-old winger pleaded guilty when he appeared at St Albans Magistrates' Court. | The 24-year-old winger pleaded guilty when he appeared at St Albans Magistrates' Court. |
| The footballer, from Cuffley, was also fined £600. | |
| Police officers were called to the crash on Judges Hill early in the morning of 13 August. | |
| They found Bentley trying to move his car out of the road. | |
| He told police he had parked at the railway station at Potters Bar and was going to take a taxi home after the gig. | |
| 'Severe consequences' | |
| He then decided to drive because he did not want to leave his car in the car park. | |
| Bentley's lawyer, Adam Davis, told the court the footballer had already suffered severe consequences of the incident. | |
| Spurs had fined him two weeks wages, he had lost a commercial contract with a sportswear company and adverse press coverage of the incident had been distressing for him and his family. | |
| "These are significant sums of money he's lost as a consequence of this incident," he said. | |
| District Judge Caroline Mellanby said she gave the footballer full credit for his guilty plea and was prepared to offer him a three-month deduction from his driving ban if he attended a drink-driving rehabilitation course. | |
| Bentley started his career with Arsenal and spent two seasons on loan with Norwich City and Blackburn Rovers. | |
| He made his full international debut against Israel in September 2007 and joined Tottenham from Blackburn in 2008. |