Former Premier League footballer Clarke Carlisle banned from driving
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Version 0 of 1. The former Premier League footballer Clarke Carlisle has been banned from driving for three years and ordered to do 150 hours unpaid community work for drink driving. Carlisle, 35, nearly crashed into a delivery lorry on 20 December just two days before he jumped into the path of a 12-tonne lorry on the A64 near York, Highbury magistrates court, in north London, was told on Thursday. Related: Clarke Carlisle: ‘I stepped in front of a lorry because I wanted to die’ District judge Susan Williams told Carlisle that, although he had made a positive contribution in the world of others in football, that she had to sentence him for the risk he had created in driving “erratically”. She told Carlisle that “ if you are not in control of your vehicle in a road in central London you represent a danger to people”. Carlisle was ordered to do 150 hours’ unpaid work within the next 12 months, his licence was endorsed and he was given a three-year ban. He was also ordered to pay a £60 surcharge and £85 prosecution costs. The former Professional Footballers’ Association chairman, who played for Burnley, Queens Park Rangers, Leeds United and Northampton Town, admitted failing to provide a sample. Carlisle has also previously pleaded guilty to a charge of driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence on the same date, when police officers spotted him driving a Mercedes in an erratic nature, the court heard. Smartly dressed in a dark-grey suit, Carlisle said “thank you ma’am” as the judge sentenced him and urged him to find help at a clinic for his mental health problems. She told him that he is “a talented and resourceful man” who has been a positive influence to people, including to “those who are less fortunate than yourself”. She also warned Carlisle that he must not get behind the wheel while he is banned. Lisa Judge, defending, claimed that Carlisle still had work to be done to get to grips with his psychological condition but he has already taken steps which give him an insight in to his problems. Carlisle has this year admitted in media interviews that he has struggled with depression. These incidents happened within weeks of Carlisle losing his job as a pundit on ITV. He has a short-term contract as a commentator with a radio station but this ends in July. Judge said that Carlisle wants to move on, adding: “This is a man who does not simply get up in the morning and goes about his business. This is a man who does his utmost, striving over the weeks and months to do the best for the community. “This [community work] is not something he had done to impress a court for sentence. This is something that Clarke Carlisle has done for years.” Carlisle, a father of three, has “ no financial security after that”, she told the court. Judge also noted that he takes his financial responsibilities to his family seriously. Carlisle was hugged by friends who had sat in the public gallery to support him as he left court. |