Jesse Lingard banned from driving after giving fake name for speeding offence

28 July 2023 , 11:00

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Jesse Lingard banned from driving after giving fake name for speeding offence

Jesse Lingard has been banned from driving after giving police a fake name following a speeding infraction.

The former Manchester United player, 30, was caught over the limit by a camera on the A56 last year. Manchester Magistrates’ Court this morning heard that he gave police the name of a man who "does not exist" and an address that is "believed to be a car park" after he received the speeding notice at his home near Altrincham.

Lingard pleaded guilty to failing to provide information about who was driving his Range Rover and was fined £900 with a further £560 in costs. He was also banned from sitting behind the wheel for six months having already accumulated points on his licence from two previous speeding offences.

The court heard that Lingard was not living at his Altrincham home at the time the speeding notice was sent because he was playing for Nottingham Forest. But police then received a response that a man called George Bolt with an address in Oldham had been driving the car, which is registered in Lingard’s name.

Jesse Lingard is a free agent after leaving Nottingham Forest (Getty Images)

The court heard George Bolt was written to and no response was received. Mike Arden, prosecuting, said: "That's not a surprise because he doesn't exist. We're quite certain about that." The court then heard that the address provided for George Bolt was a car park.

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Frank Rogers, representing Lingard, said the footballer was not the driver of the speeding car but missed the letter telling him to provide the driver’s details.

Mr Rogers said: “He was at the time of the speeding offence living in rented accommodation in Nottingham, where he was then playing. The documents went out to his then permanent address, in Altrincham. Mr Lingard has accepted that the system in place at that time just was not good enough to protect him and deal with processing his mail. So when the speeding offence was committed in August last year in Stretford, Mr Lingard was in Nottingham. He was not the driver.”

Lingard is currently a free agent having left Forest, where he only played sporadically and had a succession of injuries, at the end of last season. The attacking midfielder, who has earned 32 senior England caps, left United in 2022 having joined the club’s academy as a seven year old. He won an FA Cup, EFL Cup and Europa League while at Old Trafford before spending a successful campaign on loan at West Ham United.

He has been linked with moves to Saudi Arabia's Pro League and was recently pictured training in Miami, prompting rumours of a move to Major League Soccer. Mr Rogers said Lingard is "in discussion" with several clubs.

Alan Smith