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Saturday, 16 November 2019

Driving Ban for Speeding Premier League Footballer Christian Benteke


Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke has been disqualified from driving after being caught repeatedly driving at more than twice the speed limit.

Benteke, via his solicitor, admitted three charges of speeding during a recent appearance at Lavendar Hill Magistrates' Court in South London. Benteke was not present, owing to commitments with the Belgian national team.

Speeding is an offence contrary to section 89(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. It is a summary offence with a maximum penalty of a fine at level 3 (£1,000 maximum), which increases to a fine of level 4 (£2,500 maximum) for offences committed on the motorway.

On 20th January 2019, the footballer was clocked driving 80 mph (129 km/h) in a 50 mph (80 km/h) zone in Richmond, before being caught doing 89 mph (143 km/h) in a 40 mph (64 km/h) zone stretch of the same road in Putney on 11th March.

Benteke was also caught driving at 64mph (103km/h) in a 30mph (48km/h) zone in Streatham Place on 22nd July.

The 28-year-old, who is clearly much better at football than he is driving, already had 9 penalty points on his driving licence.

Quentin Hunt, mitigating, told the court: "He is acutely aware that he may be seen by some as a role model for young people and his behaviour should reflect as such, and that the pattern of these speeding offences in unacceptable."


Pamela Stokes, Presiding Justice, said: "Mr Benteke isn't a first time offender, he has three previous offences plus the matters in front of us today.

"We note that Mr Benteke is somebody who has offended before and we have also noticed the very high speeds recorded.

"Mr Benteke is a well known footballer. He has many fans and should be a role model to those fans. His offending has fallen far short of being a role model."

Magistrates endorsed Benteke's driving licence with 6 penalty points for each of the three offences.

He was also disqualified from driving for 12 months.

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