Striker’s marathon speeding trial

Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths was yesterday convicted of speeding hours before he was due on the park for the Hoops’ Europa League tie with Rosenborg.

The Parkhead star was found guilty following an epic three-day trial that saw one police worker giving seven solid hours of technical evidence.

Griffiths was eventually fined just £200 and given three penalty points after a prosecution that lasted longer than many jury trials.

Asked outside Dundee Justice of the Peace Court if it was three points he would rather not have had, Griffiths refused to answer – then swiped at a photographer’s camera as he walked away.

The court had heard that the sheer amount of evidence required to be considered was down to the refusal by the footballer’s legal team to agree the basic facts of the case.

Griffiths, 28, of East Lothian, had denied a charge of speeding at 62mph in a 50mph zone on June 3 last year on the Kingsway in Dundee and his defence lawyer Robert Sheridan had launched a multi-faceted attack on the charges.

He claimed the evidence that Griffiths was in fact the driver was inadmissible despite the star signing a form confirming he was behind the wheel.

A court insider later said: “The cost to the public purse of running the trial will have been many multiples of the fine.”