BREAKING: RAY WILKINS: GUILTY AND SENTENCED
Monday 25th July 2016
Ray Wilkins, the former England footballer turned pundit, has pleaded guilty to drink-driving after being caught at almost three times the legal limit.
He has today been given a 10-week suspended jail sentence and banned from driving for four years by Uxbridge Magistrates Court
The 59-year-old was spotted driving his Mercedes in the middle of a road straddling a bus lane in London.
Prosecutor Izolda Gribbin told Uxbridge Magistrates' Court that a member of the public "saw the driver striking a kerb on the road as well as drinking alcohol from the bottle while driving".
She said: "The defendant attempted a U-turn and his vehicle came to a stop."
Then the passer-by "took his keys from the car" to "prevent an accident from happening" along the A4 northern perimeter road on Friday, July 1.
A police car was flagged down and the officer noticed that Wilkins' eyes were "glazed, he was unsteady on his feet and there was a smell of alcohol coming from him", Ms Gribbin said.
Wilkins, who has two previous convictions for drink-driving, is part-way through a residential rehabilitation course at the Priory Hospital in Woking, Surrey. He spoke clearly from the dock to confirm his personal details.
Wilkins - a former Chelsea and Manchester United star, of Cobham, Surrey - was found to have 100mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mg per 100ml of breath.
Wilkins had been due to face magistrates in Uxbridge a week ago after being arrested near Heathrow Airport.
But his lawyer told the court on July 18 the ex-midfielder was being treated for alcoholism.
Barrister Sarah-Kate McIntyre said he was on a 28-day residential rehabilitation course at the Priory Hospital in Woking, Surrey.
She argued that the case should be put back for several weeks to allow him to complete it.
However, chairman of the bench Nash Gill put the case back for a week and said Wilkins should come to court or provide significant medical reasons why he could not.
Wilkins was capped 84 times by the Three Lions, including at the 1986 Mexico World Cup.
He played abroad for AC Milan and Paris St Germain before going on to become a manager and coach for teams including Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers.
He was arrested on July 1 on Northern Perimeter Road and charged the following day. Wilkins has two previous convictions for drink-driving from 2013.