Wayne Rooney, a brunette – and a drink-drive case
‘Singing along to Oasis’
Ex-England captain’s TEN hour bender while wife Coleen, pregnant with their fourth child, is away
WAYNE Rooney was charged with drink-driving yesterday after police found him with a drunken nightclub brunette at the wheel of her VW Beetle at 2am.
He and the 29-year-old woman were stopped by police while his pregnant wife Coleen was in Majorca with their three sons.
The former England captain, who spent the night sobering up in a police cell, met the office worker in a bar during a tenhour bender in which he danced on tables and belted out Oasis songs.
Rooney, 31, is believed to have been more than three times over the drinkdrive limit when police tested him.
He was driving in the opposite direction to his mansion six miles away in Prestbury, Cheshire.
The Everton striker was taken to Middlewich police station. He was charged with drink-driving and eventually released 11 hours later.
He is due to appear before magistrates on September 18, the day after his new club Everton play his old one, Manchester United in the Premier League.
If convicted, he faces at least a yearlong ban from driving, an unlimited fine or up to six months in jail.
Rooney, who infamously slept with prostitutes when his wife was pregnant with their first child, now faces a showdown with Coleen over his tawdry night of hijinks.
Mrs Rooney, his childhood sweetheart, was flying back to their £6million mansion from a holiday in Spain yesterday with sons Kai, seven, Klay, four, and Kit, one. The striker also faces a run-in with his club, because of ‘lifestyle assurances’ he gave Everton bosses when he switched from Manchester United this summer. Yesterday he looked sheepish as he was driven from the police station by his agent Paul Stretford at about 2.30pm.
He was wearing the same clothes as the day before. His boozy antics started on Thursday afternoon with friends including former Manchester United teammate Wes Brown and the younger brother of Burnley footballer Phil Bardsley.
They were spotted at 4pm at Italian restaurant Piccolino’s, in upmarket Alderley Edge, a few miles from Rooney’s home. The group then moved on to The Bubble Room, a bar popular with footballers and celebrities.
Witnesses described Rooney, who announced his retirement from international football last week, being in high spirits.
He was singing along to Oasis hits that were being played by a live band and dancing on tables.
He posed for selfies with fellow revellers, who described him as a ‘visibly drunk’ by the time he left.
‘He literally fell out of the door,’ one local said. ‘People we’re talking about him stumbling as he went out, and he was staggering around in the road outside.
‘The irony is that if he had been on England duty, he would have been with the squad and this would never have happened. He has been a silly boy.’
Another said: ‘Wayne was with Wes Brown and Phil Bardsley’s younger brother. I left at about 10.30pm and Wayne was just drinking beer.’
A third added: ‘Wayne and Wes were well p***ed. You could tell they were both well over the limit.’ Around 1am, the group moved on to late-night cocktail bar Symposium, in Wilmslow, which is owned by Hollyoaks actor Ashley Taylor-Dawson.
Shortly before 2am, Rooney and the woman decided to drive off in her VW Beetle. As she was said to be ‘hammered’, it was decided Rooney should drive.
They made it only a short distance before a police car pulled up alongside and he was breathalysed. Cheshire Police confirmed they had charged Rooney with drink-driving.
He was released on bail to appear at Stockport Magistrates’ Court.
Mrs Rooney is likely to be less than impressed with his behaviour, the latest in a series of drinkrelated indiscretions in his private life. As a young player he was caught bedding prostitutes behind Coleen’s back and has previously been in trouble after being pictured smoking and drinking on nights out.
Most recently, in November, he gate-crashed a wedding at The Grove Hotel, in Watford, where the England team were staying following a match against Scotland.
A source at the time said: ‘His speech was slurred, his lips were red with wine and his eyes were red. He was really s***-faced. He was not a pretty sight.’
In March it was also reported that Rooney blew £500,000 at a casino while Coleen was abroad. He was pictured supping beer on his own and laying down huge bets in the late-night session.
Rooney, who was capped 119 times for England and is the country’s leading goal scorer, re-signed for Everton, his boyhood club, from Manchester United before the start of the season.
Everton had given players the day off from training yesterday as there are no Premier League matches this weekend because of the international break.
Last night the club declined to comment.