Lingard fined £900, banned from driving for 6 months

Former Manchester United player, Jesse Lingard, was given a six-month driving ban after failing to provide information to identify the driver of the Range Rover that was pulled up by police for speeding.

The 30-year-old Lingard, whose contract with Nottingham Forest expired in June, made a brief appearance at the Manchester Magistrates’ Court and admitted the offence.

Lingard spoke only to confirm his identity and enter his guilty plea.

According to Daily Mail on Friday, Lingard’s attorney, Frank Rogers, said that although Lingard was not the driver of the Range Rover, he was unaware of the request for the driver’s information because it was sent to his previous address in Manchester while he was still residing in Nottingham.

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.

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The court heard Lingard had two speeding convictions, dated 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.