Fall of a football hero
Ray Wilkins caught swigging from bottle at wheel of Mercedes
FORMER England football captain Ray Wilkins was banned from driving yesterday after being caught swigging from a bottle behind the wheel and telling police who breath tested him ‘that’s my life f ***** ’.
The 59-year-old was so drunk after a celebrity golf match that he ‘blacked out’ while driving his Mercedes SL400.
He could not remember being stopped by another motorist who took his car keys after seeing him drinking on the road.
The former Rangers, Chelsea and AC Milan midfielder swerved across a bus lane and clipped a curb in west London before he was stopped by a driver on July 1 who then pulled up alongside the car and called police.
Officers carried out a breath test after noticing Wilkins reeked of alcohol, his eyes were glazed and he was unsteady on his feet.
He was nearly three times over the limit with 100mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.
Hours earlier, he had been pictured serving Jagermeister shots at the 2016 Mini Masters in Chiswick, west London, where he was raising money for charity with stars including former England goalkeeper David Seaman and comedian Rob Brydon.
Yesterday Wilkins was handed a ten-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months, ordered to perform 140 hours of unpaid work, and banned from driving for four years after he admitted drink driving at Uxbridge Magistrates Court.
He was caught a matter of days after serving a three-year driving ban for drink driving in 2013. It is the third time in as many years he has been convicted for the crime.
Sarah-Kate McIntyre, defending, said: ‘He is ashamed and embarrassed to be here today. He recognises the potential damage he caused to himself and the public. ‘The truth is he doesn’t remember anything that happened after he left the golf club, he blacked out and this is something that has happened before.
‘He was co-operative with the police. His reaction was, “That’s my life f ***** .” He is now working hard to turn his life around. He also knows that his marriage is in jeopardy if he continues to drink.’
Miss McIntyre told the court Wilkins had struggled since his playing career ended. She said: ‘He finds life difficult now he no longer has that team structure since he stopped playing. It’s sad someone once so successful finds himself in this position.’
Wilkins has been undergoing a 28day treatment at the Priory to tackle his alcoholism, she added.
The troubled football pundit has also worked with Sporting Chance, a clinic set up by former England and Arsenal captain Tony Adams in 2000 to give sports stars support in tackling their alcoholism. Yesterday Wilkins pledged to turn his life around, telling the court: ‘Abstinence is the only way I can cure this situation.’
District Judge Tim Boswell told him: ‘This is the third conviction in just under three years.
‘But I’m going to suspend the sentence because you have entered an early guilty plea and because you accept you need to abstain from alcohol completely to avoid this happened again.’
Wilkins, who spent two years at Ibrox, from 1987 to 1989, captained England ten times in 84 appearances, including at the 1986 Mexico World Cup. He went on to manage and coach teams including Chelsea and QPR.
Worries grew for Wilkins when he ranted about England’s Euro 2016 performance on Talksport after being released on bail on July 2. He trended on social media as users wondered if he was drunk.
In July 2013 he was handed a threeyear driving ban and fined £4,000 for two counts of drink driving.
He was caught nearly three times over the drink-drive limit after hitting a traffic island in May 2012, and then tested four times over the limit while on bail in March 2013.
Speaking outside court yesterday, he said: ‘I will be judged on the crime I have committed and that is 100 per cent right. I only ask I will not be judged on the alcohol problem I have. I am an addict.’