Leicester City star fined £20,000 and banned for drink-driving
LEICESTER City footballer Hamza Choudhury has been fined £20,000 after a court heard he was caught drink-driving on the wrong side of the road in his wife’s Range Rover.
Nottingham Magistrates’ Court was shown police dashcam footage of the 26-year-old being pulled over in Loughborough Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham, in the early hours of Friday January 19.
Choudhury, of Edwalton, pleaded guilty to driving while double the legal alcohol limit and careless driving. He was also given a 40-month driving ban and ordered to pay a £2,000 victim surcharge and £85 in prosecution costs.
Defence lawyer Kally Sohata told the court Choudhury had shared a taxi home from a restaurant with a friend, but had returned in his wife’s car after realising he had left his phone behind.
Passing sentence, District Judge Sunil Khanna told Choudhury, who earns £12,000 a week: “I do accept that this will impact you and that you are extremely embarrassed by what has occurred.”
Choudhury was told that his 40-month ban would be reduced by around nine months if he completes a drink-driving rehabilitation course.
Prosecutor Ben Payne told the court Choudhury had a previous drink-driving conviction dating back to 2017, meaning the player faced a mandatory ban of at least three years.
Mr Payne told the court that a charge of failing to co-operate with a roadside breath test had been withdrawn.
Choudhury, who was arrested, had provided two breath-test readings at a police station, the lowest of which was 71 mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, more than twice the limit of 35mcg, Mr Payne added.