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France’s World Cup keeper Lloris avoids jail over drink-driving
LONDON, Sept 12, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – France’s World Cup-winning captain Hugo
Lloris avoided jail but received a 20-month driving ban and a œ50,000
($65,000) fine on Wednesday for drink-driving in central London.
The Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper had earlier called his behaviour
“unacceptable” and received a lighter sentence from a judge who could have
locked up the star for six months.
“On 15th of July, he was the proudest man of the planet,” attorney David
Sonn said in reference to the day Lloris and his France team lifted the World
Cup trophy in Moscow.
“Forty days later, he was arrested in central London,” said the lawer.
“Today he apologises to the court.”
Lloris was one of the heroes of France’s commanding march to their second
football World Cup in 20 years.
The triumph turned the 31-year-old into a national hero and confirmed his
status as one of the most respected goalkeepers in the world.
But Lloris’s dream turned into a nightmare when his Porsche was pulled
over for a routine stop in central London at 2:20am on August 24.
The Daily Mail tabloid said Lloris registered 100 microgrammes of alcohol
per 100 millilitres of breath in a police check.
The amount is roughly the equivalent of seven glasses of wine, although
alcohol levels depend on multiple factors such as age, gender and metabolism.
The legal driving limit in England in a breathalyser test is 35
microgrammes.
“I wish to apologise wholeheartedly to my family, the club, my teammates,
the manager and all of the supporters,” Lloris had earlier said in a
statement.
“Drink-driving is completely unacceptable, I take full responsibility for
my actions and it is not the example I wish to set.”
Police said Lloris nearly hit parked cars and went through a red light.
They found vomit in the car after stopping him.
Lloris spent seven hours in a cell that night before returning home on
foot.
– Taxi cancelled –
His lawyer said Lloris knew he should not have been driving and had called
a cab after a night out.
“He had booked a taxi but unfortunately the taxi cancelled at the last
minute,” Sonn said. “He made a first mistake — he decided to drive.”
The married father of two looked stoic and dressed impeccably in a dark
suit and blue shirt as he made his way in silence through a crush of
reporters into the courtroom.
Lloris missed France’s opening games in the inaugural UEFA Nations League.
France coach Didier Deschamps attributed his ‘keeper’s absence to a thigh
injury and gave Lloris his wholehearted support.
“He knows only too well that it shouldn’t happen, but it happened and it’s
not going to change what I think about him and the Hugo Lloris that I’ve
always known,” said Deschamps.
Lloris was spectacular during the World Cup and gave up no goals in either
France’s tough quarter-final match-up against Uruguay or their semi-final
against a dangerous Belgium side.
He blundered once in the final against Croatia but his team still
prevailed 4-2.
But Lloris’s London club are now left to ponder what to do with their
starting keeper after his conviction for a serious driving offence.
Tottenham have won three of their first four matches and are placed fifth
in the English Premier League.
A team spokesman said before the sentencing that Tottenham were treating
the entire matter “extremely seriously”.
Lloris has made 256 appearances with Tottenham since joining from the
French club Lyon in 2012.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1850HRS