Crerand: I swore at police because I’m from Glasgow
UNITED LEGEND, 79, EXPLAINS HIS ALTERCATION WITH OFFICERS AS HE IS BANNED FROM ROADS FOR DRINK-DRIVING
UNITED legend Paddy Crerand blamed his Glaswegian background for his language when he was arrested over a 1am drink-driving crash.
Magistrates heard the 79-year old ex-footballer, now a TV and radio commentator, shout ‘if they can’t spell it, tell them to **** off’ when he was asked by officers to spell his name following a crash in Sale.
Speaking about the language he used, Crerand told magistrates: “On the football pitch we use it all the time. If you go to Glasgow, it’s the first thing you hear.”
The outburst from the former Reds ace – who played 304 games for United between 1963 and 1971 – came after he pulled out of a side road in his black Audi, just 300 yards from his home, and ploughed into a car as he and his wife Noreen returned from a family dinner.
When the driver of the red Ford Fiesta, who was in his 20s, checked if Crerand was okay, the former Scottish midfielder questioned why he was ‘out at that time of night’ and told him: “I can’t believe what you have done. I can’t believe what you have **** ing done.”
The court heard the fatherof-three, who has eight grandchildren, repeatedly refused to give his name to the driver, who didn’t recognise him, before swearing at his mother when she arrived at the scene at around 1.30am on January 15.
At Manchester magistrates court, Crerand blamed his bad language on ‘being Scottish’ and claimed swearing was a ‘way of expressing himself’ in his native Glasgow.
He admitted drink-driving and driving without due care and attention and was banned from the roads for 22 months.
Tests revealed Crerand had 65 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.
He told the hearing: “My wife Noreen and I went to my daughter’s house for something to eat and I drove us there. We were there for two to three hours and I drank three to four glasses of wine. We left the house at about 1am. We were going to stay the night, but my wife had forgotten her medication, so we were going home to get it. We lived about three miles away, maybe less.
“My wife drove part of the way. I was sat beside her. She became unwell whilst driving the car. She was desperate to get home. She said she was feeling dizzy and was desperate for the toilet.
“I said she better stop the car and I would drive the rest of the way home. We were about three to four minutes away in the car and she pulled over. I phoned my son but it was 1.30am and although he did answer, he was very aggressive and he did not come. I tried to call for a taxi but they must have been busy and I believed it was an emergency. She wasn’t well, she was angry and upset.
“The road wasn’t busy, there were no other cars on the road. The weather conditions were good and I felt I was capable of driving, I did not feel drunk.
“I didn’t see the other car coming. I probably did use bad language, but not in an aggressive way. On the football pitch we use it all the time. If you go to Glasgow, it’s the first thing you hear. I wasn’t aggressive. My wife was my main concern. My head was elsewhere at the time. I have been driving for 50 years. I’m sorry for what happened.”
In a statement, the driver of the car Crerand hit said: “When the police asked for his details he eventually said his name was Paddy Crerand. When one of the officers asked how to spell his name, he replied ‘if they can’t spell it, tell them to f*** off’.”
Kush Verma, defending, said: “My client’s evidence was slightly incoherent but he is somebody who is almost 80. Time has got the better of his memory. He is a Glaswegian, he is a Scotman and he had used bad language during this incident. But it wasn’t used aggressively, it’s just the way he speaks.”
Crerand was fined £1,500 and ordered to pay £680 court costs. He was told to complete a drink-driver’s rehabilitation course. He shook his head as the sentence was passed.