Hugo Lloris drink-driving case: Tottenham captain fined £50,000 after driving Porsche through central London while more than twice the legal limit

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Tottenham Hotspur captain Hugo Lloris has been fined £50,000 for drunkenly driving home through central London from a night out with fellow French World Cup heroes.

The 31-year-old goalkeeper's £115,000 Porsche was seen veering across the road, almost hitting parked cars, and running a red light when it was stopped by police in central London.

Lloris had to be helped out of the driver's seat by a police officer, he was unsteady on his feet and slurring his words, and appeared to have vomited, Westminster magistrates court heard.

The shotstopper, who captained France to World Cup glory this summer, spent a night in the cells following his arrest, at around 2.20am in Gloucester Place, Marylebone on August 24, and today admitted making a "terrible error" as he pleaded guilty to a charge of drink driving.

Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Hugo Lloris arrives at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London to face a drink driving charge
PA

Lloris sat with his head bowed in the dock as magistrates fined by £50,000, banned him from the road for 20 months, and ordered him to £255 in court costs and fees.

"This is a very serious offence", said magistrate Amanda Barron. "It is pure luck you didn't have an accident and cause damage to other cars of possibly pedestrians in the local area."

Lloris' lawyer David Sonn told the court: "On the 15th of July Mr Lloris was arguably the proudest man on the planet as he raised the World Cup trophy on behalf of his home nation.

"Just 40 days later he was arrested in central London for driving with excess alcohol and experienced the indignity of being handcuffed and detained in a police station cell overnight."

Mr Sonn said Lloris immediately apologised to family, friends, teammates and fans after his arrest.

"It is when you are drunk that you are most likely to make the foolish mistakes that he did", added Mr Sonn. "He made a terrible error."

In court: Hugo Lloris ( REUTERS )
REUTERS

Lloris was pictured on the night of his arrest with Arsenal centreback Laurent Koscielny and Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud at French and Mediterranean restaurant Bagatelle in Mayfair.

The court heard he planned to take a taxi to the restaurant but when the cab failed to arrive he drove there in his Porsche.

Lloris and his World Cup champion teammates found themselves "showered with hospitality" by the restaurant and well-wishing fellow diners.

"When he came to leave the restaurant at 2am, he was plainly drunk", added Mr Sonn.

"At that moment, he should have decided to leave the vehicle where it was and worried about recovering it in the morning and take a taxi home."

Lloris during Spurs' win over Manchester United
REUTERS

Prosecutor Henry Fitch said Lloris had a passenger in the car when he was stopped by police at 2.20am.

He said the Porsche "was not moving smoothly, and was travelling at a slower speed than expected".

"One of the officer's observed it veering a number of times towards parked vehicles, nearly clipping them before correcting itself", said the prosecutor, adding Lloris was then seen running a red light.

"Officers observed his speech was slurred, he was helped from the vehicle by an officer, he was unstable on his feet, and there was evidence of vomit at the scene."

Lloris was breathalized and found to have 80 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, well over the legal limit of 35.

The star has not been stripped of the captaincy by his club, who said the incident was being dealt with “extremely seriously” internally.

Lloris was accompanied to court by a Spurs representative and security who guided him head bowed past a large crowd of photographers outside the court building.

The fine issued to Lloris is lower than the punishment given to former Man City midfielder Yaya Toure, who was fined £54,000 in December 2016 when he was caught drunk behind the wheel.

In April this year TV presenter Ant McPartlin was given an £86,000 fine, believed to be the highest amount ordered by a British court for drink driving.

Lloris, from East Finchley, pleaded guilty to drink driving. He can complete a drink drive awareness course to reduce the length of his driving ban by a quarter.

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