pennant gets 3 months

[thecorner]

Arsenal midfielder Jermaine Pennant has been jailed for three months after admitting drink-driving while banned.
The 22-year-old, from Barnet, north London, crashed a Mercedes Benz into a lamppost in the centre of Aylesbury, Bucks, on 23 January.

He admitted the drink-driving charge, driving while disqualified and having no insurance, at a hearing at Aylesbury Magistrates' Court last month.

Pennant's lawyers said they planned to appeal against the sentence.



Chairman of magistrates, John Jakobi, told Pennant there had been no reasonable excuse for the journey and a custodial sentence was justified.

Wrong lane

Police stopped the footballer, currently on loan to Birmingham City, outside a leisure centre at about 0600 GMT.

He claimed to have lost control of his car while changing its satellite navigation system.

Tests showed his alcohol reading was 85 micrograms per 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms.

Pennant was banned from driving for 16 months last February after he was seen travelling in the wrong lane in Paddington, west London.

'Extremely disappointed'

The ban was shortened after he attended a course and was due to be lifted on 19 February.

His defence lawyer Barry Warbutton said Pennant had thought he was allowed to drive after his aunt read out a letter to him from the DVLA.

Birmingham City had hoped he would get a lenient sentence that would allow him to continue playing football.

A spokesman said the jail term had left the club "extremely disappointed".

He said: "We will now be speaking to Arsenal about the future of their player."

[Kowalski]

He got off easy so, he was looking at 6 months..............................in Birmingham

[Karlos]

He got off easy so, he was looking at 6 months..............................in Birmingham

ha ha, your right there Ted!

Silly silly boy though! I mean, how many warnings does he need before he completly ruins any chance of a decent career. Should have got a far harsher sentence. No time for drink drivers.

on a plus point, it's rumoured the car he was driving belonged to his good mate Ledley King! Will the Spuds never learn! Don't let a disqualified driver near your car mate!

[ciaran76]

Pennant is a stupid cant thats all i have to say.

Driving while already banned. Ashley Cole's Merc i do believe.
How he didn't spot the lampost under the car while driving for 2 miles is beyond me.

Then again it wasn't his first time to be banned from driving.

[pete]

Isn't the irish drink driving limit only 80mg?

3 months is proper sentence for drinking while banned.

[pineapple stu]

Silly silly boy though! I mean, how many warnings does he need before he completly ruins any chance of a decent career?

Can't argue with that, but on a similar note, how many warnings do the clubs need on this kind of thing? Pennant isn't exactly the first player to get into alcohol-related problems, and isn't even the first to end up in jail because of them (Lee Hughes for a start). It's obvious the clubs don't give a damn about young players' emotional upbringing, or their maturity - surely they have to take some responsibility for this?

[Karlos]

Can't argue with that, but on a similar note, how many warnings do the clubs need on this kind of thing? Pennant isn't exactly the first player to get into alcohol-related problems, and isn't even the first to end up in jail because of them (Lee Hughes for a start). It's obvious the clubs don't give a damn about young players' emotional upbringing, or their maturity - surely they have to take some responsibility for this?

Agreed but I do think many clubs do have programmes in place for players - it's spotting the problem that's the problem.

Teammates should also take responsibilty for helping out their friends if they are genuinely in trouble.

clubs can't hold the players hands 24 hours a day.

Pennant's case however I do feel alot of it is down to himself. Arsenal have a particulary good alcohol and drug awareness and rehabilitation programme that was brought in to help the rehabilitation of Merson, Adams & Parlour and others in similar situations.

As far as I am aware it is still in operation and is funded by T. Adams 'sporting chance' foundation. Unfortunetly the boy has had quite a few problems with both alcohol and general ''up to no good' behaviour - didn't he go awol with the England U-21's and give Platt a tongue lashing when he confronted him over it. I hope he can sort himself out as he definetly got the talent, unfortunetly I don't think it will be at Arsenal.

[pineapple stu]

Agreed but I do think many clubs do have programmes in place for players - it's spotting the problem that's the problem.

Is there such a programme? Didn't know that.

Teammates should also take responsibilty for helping out their friends if they are genuinely in trouble.

Trus, though it's the same teammates who are usually getting them into the drinking in the first place.

Clubs can't hold the players hands 24 hours a day.

Obviously. Still, given the frequency with which this occurs (and not just the profile/newsworthy cases either - when Clive Delaney left UCD to go to West Ham, he told me that he just couldn't keep up with the drinking culture there - and this from a student! ), I think it's an area where much more needs to be done. On all sides (clubs, players, FA, etc.)