Paul Gascoigne given suspended drink-driving sentence

[Lewis]

Former footballer Paul Gascoigne has been given a suspended prison sentence after he admitted drinking and driving.

The 43-year-old Tyneside-born former England midfielder was stopped by police in Newcastle on 8 October.

The city's magistrates' court was told that Gascoigne was more than four times the legal alcohol limit.

He was handed an eight-week sentence, suspended for a year, and banned from driving for three years. He was also given an alcohol treatment order.

The court was told Gascoigne was five weeks into a 12-week anti-drink programme in Dorset.

Gascoigne, who played top flight football for Newcastle, Tottenham, Lazio, Rangers, Everton and Middlesbrough in a career spanning nearly 20 years, also attends Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings.
Continue reading the main story
â??Start Quote

I hope not to see you again�

End Quote District Judge Stephen Earl

* Profile: Paul Gascoigne

His solicitor Stephen Andrews said: "The talk now is of an extensive and elongated period of support while not actually under the roof of the Providence Project, but certainly within easy reach, given the continued support they would propose to offer.

"Previously, it has been on his terms. He's gone in, he has used it as he saw fit and of course relapsed because he has not done the full programme.

"This time it has been on their terms."

District Judge Stephen Earl said he believed a 12-week sentence, with a third off as credit for a guilty plea, was appropriate.

He said the sentence was suspended in recognition of Gascoigne's progress in the treatment programme.
'Toon Army'

He warned the former footballer that if he re-offended in the next 12 months, the jail term would be triggered.

District Judge Earl added: "I hope not to see you again."

Gascoigne made no comment when he left court, but Mr Andrews said he was relieved and that it was a "good result".

Outside the court well-wishers shouted, "Toon Army never surrenders", and he signed autographs for fans.

Paul Gascoigne's car had to be pushed out of the snow

He then got into his lawyer's car which became stuck in heavy snow in the car park behind the court.

The vehicle - which sported a Manchester City pendant on the passenger window - was pushed free by members of the press.

Gascoigne is also due to be tried on a separate charge of drinking and driving, which he denies.

He is accused of driving a Ford Transit van while more than four times the legal alcohol limit on 7 February at Leeming Bar, in North Yorkshire.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-11954284

[recovering_fan]

Yowsah!

It's funny you should bring up Gazza. Remember that Rboibe Fwoelr joke earlier, about the french fries? Well, I was originally going to use Paul Gascoigne's name for that. But one always has to be careful what one says on the Internet. The reason I didn't use him was, I was worried he might (1) actually be serving people fries at a drive-through by now; or (2) actually have died in an auto accident. In the end, I used Robbie Fowler, because at least that scatterbrain still has a job playing football somewhere (in Australia, I think).

I honestly feel sorry for Gascoigne in a way that I don't for most athletes. He is completely out of control. It's the ones who act like jerks and manage to remain in control that bother me most.

Nevertheless, your article does give us some perspective on the kind of people little boys grow up worshipping.

--RF

[Lewis]

Yowsah!

It's funny you should bring up Gazza. Remember that Rboibe Fwoelr joke earlier, about the french fries? Well, I was originally going to use Paul Gascoigne's name for that. But one always has to be careful what one says on the Internet. The reason I didn't use him was, I was worried he might (1) actually be serving people fries at a drive-through by now; or (2) actually have died in an auto accident. In the end, I used Robbie Fowler, because at least that scatterbrain still has a job playing football somewhere (in Australia, I think).

I honestly feel sorry for Gascoigne in a way that I don't for most athletes. He is completely out of control. It's the ones who act like jerks and manage to remain in control that bother me most.

Nevertheless, your article does give us some perspective on the kind of people little boys grow up worshipping.

--RF

My brother watched a programme about Gascoigne and his drinking. I saw the last five minutes of it and I felt so sorry for his family, no one deserves to go through that.

[i_like_1981]

I honestly feel sorry for Gascoigne in a way that I don't for most athletes. He is completely out of control. It's the ones who act like jerks and manage to remain in control that bother me most.

You're very right there. Some of these athletes are actually having their lives destroyed by drink or drugs. And though it is somewhat their fault that they got involved with this sort of stuff, it does not mean they should be laughed or sneered at or wished death upon. At the end of the day, we're all human. We all have weaknesses. I would like to see these athletes' wages being cut substantially but I don't necessarily want to see their lives being destroyed. I never really drank much in the way of alcohol so I couldn't really understand how some got addicted to it, but the fact is that some people find it harder to impose limits upon their actions than others and from then on, things really do begin to fall apart.

Best regards,
i_like_1981