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Carlos Tévez admits driving while disqualified and without insurance Carlos Tevez handed 250 hours of community service for driving offences
(35 minutes later)
The Manchester City striker Carlos Tévez admitted in court on Wednesday to driving while disqualified and without insurance. The Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez has been sentenced to 250 hours of community service and a six-month driving ban after pleading guilty at Macclesfield Magistrates' Court to driving while disqualified and without insurance.
The 29-year-old entered his guilty plea in his native Spanish with the aid of an interpreter as he stood in the dock at Macclesfield Magistrates' Court. Tevez admitted driving while disqualified and without insurance after being stopped as he left a golf club in a Porsche Cayenne on the afternoon of 7 March this year following an anonymous tip-off to police.
JPs heard that the Argentinian, who gave his full name as Carlos Alberto Tévez, has not yet got a UK driving licence, partly because he has struggled to pass the theory test, which is conducted in English. Elizabeth Depares, the chairwoman of the bench, told the Manchester City striker: "Mr Tevez you must realise you are a role model for thousands, if not millions, of fans. Nobody is above the law and you should not have been driving. We have heard that you are sorry. And it is now up to you to ensure you will not be brought back to court again."
Tévez pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and without insurance after being stopped as he left a golf club in a Porsche Cayenne on the afternoon of 7 March this year following an anonymous tip-off to police. Tevez was also ordered to pay fines and costs to a total of £1,145.
He received a six-month driving ban at Manchester Magistrates' Court in January after pleading guilty to two counts of failing to furnish information relating to incidents in which his Hummer vehicle was clocked speeding. According to the probation officer, Mr Boliver, who interviewed Tevez before sentencing, the striker stated he "would welcome the opportunity to put something back into the community… He was very clear when I was talking to him that this was a very salutary lesson, the seriousness of this type of offence has come home to him and the likelihood of this happening again is highly unlikely."
Kate Marchuk, prosecuting, told the court a police officer was called to the Mottram Hall Hotel and Golf Club in Cheshire at around 4pm on 7 March. Gwyn Lewis, Tevez's solicitor, told the court: "The whole experience from being arrested to being in the police station is all completely alien to him and very frightening."
"There had been a call from an anonymous caller, that the defendant had driven a white Range Rover to the golf club whilst disqualified. The officer confirmed this on the Police National Computer." After hearing argument from Lewis, known at City as "Merlin the Magician" for his abilities in court, the three-judge panel retired to consider what action Tevez should face.
But Miss Marchuk said Tévez had been disqualified from driving on 16 January, until 25 May. There were two strands to Lewis's defence of Tevez. First, that having been given a six-month ban in January which was backdated to a previous offence for speeding in Morecambe in November his client had already served a large portion of his disqualification when was caught driving on 7 March.
In fact Tévez, who lives in nearby Alderley Edge, did not get into the Range Rover, but instead at around 5pm left the club, got into a white Porsche Cayenne and drove off. He was stopped nearby and arrested for driving while disqualified and having no insurance. Lewis also argued that Tevez's previous offences were for failing to complete documentation when other people had been driving cars registered to him, rather than him actually being behind the wheel.
He told the officer: "I only live down the road. Two minutes." The court heard the Tevez, who wore a cream V-neck sweater and was asked to stand throughout in the glass-windowed dock, had been caught after an "anonymous caller" tipped-off police that he had arrived Mottram Hall Golf Club apparently driving a white range rover.
Tévez was taken to the police station and later bailed but at a second interview made no reply to police questions. Kate Marchuk, for the prosecution, said: "There was a call from an anonymous caller that the defendant had driven a white Range Rover while disqualified. The officer confirmed this on the police national computer. There was a white Range Rover on the car park but Mr Tevez did not get into the car.
After a short adjournment, Elizabeth Depares, chair of the bench, temporarily deferred passing sentence until Tévez had spoken to a probation officer. He was led from the dock to speak to the officer and will be brought back in due course to be sentenced. "There was, however, a white Porsche Cayenne parked at the car park and a check on the police national computer showed it to be registered to the defendant. Just after five that afternoon Mr Tevez went to that vehicle, got into the driver's seat and drove off.
Ms Depares told the court: "We do feel he has served a significant proportion of his disqualification. Therefore on that basis, we have been looking at a starting point of a community order. So therefore we would like Mr Tévez to speak to probation." "The officer stopped him and Mr Tevez was arrested and cautioned for driving while disqualified and for having no insurance. His reply was: 'I only live down the road, two minutes'."