Former Manchester United footballer Jesse Lingard has been disqualified from driving for six months and fined £900 (€1,050) after failing to provide details to identify the driver of his Range Rover caught speeding by police.
Lingard, 30, whose contract with Nottingham Forest ended in June, appeared at Manchester Magistrates’ Court to admit the offence during a brief hearing.
He spoke only to confirm his identity and enter his guilty plea.
Lingard’s car was caught speeding in Stretford, Manchester, in August last year.
He received a letter from Greater Manchester Police asking for the drivers’ details but failed to provide them.
Frank Rogers, representing Lingard, said he was not the driver of the speeding car but missed the letter telling him to provide the driver’s details.
Mr Rogers said: “He was at the time of the speeding offence living in rented accommodation in Nottingham, where he was then playing. The documents went out to his then permanent address, in Altrincham.
“Mr Lingard has accepted that the system in place at that time just was not good enough to protect him and deal with processing his mail.
“So when the speeding offence was committed in August last year in Stretford, Mr Lingard was in Nottingham. He was not the driver.”
Mr Rogers said Lingard had been with Manchester United since the age of nine, until his transfer to Nottingham Forest in July last year, and is now “in discussion” with several clubs about his future playing career.
He said the footballer was single and financially supports his extended family.
The court heard Lingard had two speeding convictions, dated on June 5 and June 6, 2020.
Although these had “lapsed”, due to his guilty plea the six points relating to them are re-activated and he faced immediate disqualification from driving under the “totting up” of points process.
District Judge Jane Hamilton told Lingard, “Your licence will be endorsed with six penalty points. The six already recorded against you in 2022 count, so you are liable to be disqualified under the totting up process.
“So you are disqualified for six months. That begins immediately.”
Lingard was also fined £900 with a further £200 in court costs and a £360 surcharge.
He made no comment as he left court.
