Hugo Lloris issued 20 month driving ban, £50k fine after pleading guilty to drink driving

Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Hugo Lloris had his day at Westminster Magistrates Court today, pleading guilty to a charge of drink driving after his arrest in central London last month. The World Cup winner and Tottenham Hotspur club captain received a driving ban in the UK of 20 months and was fined £50,000 after he was pulled over during a routine traffic stop after spending a night with his France teammates Laurent Koscielny and Olivier Giroud in a restaurant.

The court heard evidence from Metropolitan Police that there was vomit in Lloris’ car and that he at one point swerved his vehicle towards parked cars before running a red light. Lloris showed slurred speech, blew more than twice the legal limit in the UK and reportedly had to be helped from his car.

The presiding magistrate did not mince words when issuing Lloris’ sentence.

“This is a very serious offence. It is pure luck you didn’t have an accident and cause damage to other cars or possibly pedestrians in the local area.”

Lloris’ lawyer David Sonn likewise did not excuse his client’s actions, explaining what happened that night and calling Hugo “plainly drunk” when he left the restaurant at 2 a.m.

“On the 15th of July Mr Lloris was arguably the proudest man on the planet as he raised the World Cup trophy on behalf of his home nation.

”Just 40 days later he was arrested in central London for driving with excess alcohol and experienced the indignity of being handcuffed and detained in a police station cell overnight.

“It is when you are drunk that you are most likely to make the foolish mistakes that he did. He made a terrible error.”

Tottenham Hotspur had previously stated that it took the incident “extremely seriously” and that it was handling the situation internally. There has of yet been no further comment from the club.

UPDATE: According to the Daily Mail, Tottenham Hotspur will fine Hugo £300,000 (the equivalent of two weeks’ wages), but he will maintain his club captaincy.