‘Mortified’ Ant fined for drink-driving crash
ANT mortified’ (€100,000) McPartlin as for he drink-driving said was he fined was a record ‘ashamed yesterday. £86,000 and
Appearing gaunt and withdrawn, the TV presenter was also banned from driving for 20 months after a crash that left two families fearing for their lives last month.
The court heard a nine-year-old boy who was in one of the cars hit by McPartlin’s Mini later told his mother it came ‘round the corner like a rocket’.
The presenter’s fine is thought to be the highest imposed by a British court for drink-driving, topping the £54,000 given to soccer star Yaya Toure in 2016 for the same offence.
Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court heard McPartlin’s car careered on to the wrong side of the road after he took a corner at ‘significant speed’ and hit two oncoming vehicles. His breathalyser reading was twice the legal limit of 35mg. The presenter’s mother Christine was in the passenger seat of his Mini when it smashed into the two cars in Richmond, South-West London, on March 18. In a statement read by his barrister Liam Walker, McPartlin said: ‘I am very sorry I did this. I am ashamed and mortified that this happened.’ Speaking briefly outside the court, the presenter added: ‘High standards them of myself. are expected I’ve let of myself me, I down.’ expect McPartlin, who is divorcing his wife of 11 years, Lisa Armstrong, was struggling to ‘come to terms with the end of his marriage’, his lawyers told the court. McPartlin pulled out of all work commitments after his crash, leaving long-time presenting partner Declan Donnelly to front the final episodes of ITV’s Saturday Night Takeaway alone.