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Speeding Black Cat in court
PREMIERSHIP star Dwight Yorke escaped a speeding ban when he faced magistrates accused of doing 85mph in his Audi motor on a stretch of the A19.
The Sunderland midfielder, who was represented by celebrity solicitor Nick Freeman, admitted a single charge of driving with excess speed last July.
District Judge Stephen Earl fined Yorke 150 with 150 costs and a 15 victim surcharge when the player appeared at Hartlepool Magistrates' Court yesterday.
He then warned the former Manchester United hotshot, who now has nine points on his licence: "You might want to take into consideration, with nine points you are in dire risk that should a further offence occur, you are in risk of disqualification by way of totting up."
Yorke, 36, was spotted by PC Bruce Thorpe, of Cleveland Police's road policing unit, exceeding the 70mph speed limit on the A19 northbound, near Stockton.
After following Yorke's Audi Q7 car, PC Thorpe radioed colleague PC Andrew Lawson, in a uniformed vehicle, who stopped Yorke near the A179 turn-off for Hartlepool at 9.20pm.
Yorke changed his plea to guilty on the basis that it was agreed that he was travelling at 85mph in a 70mph speed limit, not a higher speed alleged by the police.
He had refused to sign police documents at the roadside, the court heard.
Paul Abrahams, prosecuting, said PC Lawson's vehicle "took a speed check close to the A179 northerly turn-off for Hartlepool and the accepted speed was 85mph. The limit on the road is 70mph."
Mr Abrahams applied for court costs of 455. Yorke, whose address was given as Greyfriars, Beechfield Road, Alderley Edge, Cheshire, was ordered to pay a 150 contribution. The court heard Yorke already had six points on his licence for offences committed on September 8, 2006, and October 22, 2006. He admitted driving with excess speed on July 8 last year.
Mr Freeman, dubbed "Mr Loophole" for exposing shortcomings in the law, has successfully defended the likes of David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Sir Alex Ferguson. He was unable to prevent his client from being fined. He told the court Yorke had been driving back from a holiday to his apartment in Sunderland and that it was a "quiet road with ideal road traffic conditions".
He asked the court to impose a fixed penalty and said Yorke accepted "contemporaneously" at the roadside that he was over the limit but not at the speed the officer stated.
Mr Freeman added that Yorke had been "extremely helpful" and should be given credit for pleading guilty to the "speed he has accepted travelling at, which was similar to the speed he was travelling at".
Speaking on behalf of Yorke outside court, Mr Freeman said: "Dwight had always accepted he was speeding. The only issue was the speed that he was travelling and that was resolved today."
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Weather for Hartlepool
Sunday 12 February 2012
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