Drink-driving: famous pro footballer gets 4-month suspended prison sentence
The Dutch footballer spent the evening in two Principality venues © Monaco Tribune
The Monaco Criminal Court sentenced a very famous Dutch footballer, who was stopped and tested positive for alcohol at the wheel of his Rolls-Royce last summer.
The events took place on 6 August 2024, at 5.38 am. The Dutch international, on holiday in Monaco as usual, was stopped by the Police Department on the Place d’Armes in light of what the presiding judge described as “risky” behaviour. Tested on the spot, the result was positive, indicating a level of alcohol of 1.01 grams per litre of blood. “That’s two-thirds of the way to an alcoholic coma,” the judge stated.
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Immediately taken to the police station, the former Barcelona striker was barely able to stand. According to the police officers, the perpetrator spoke arrogantly, saying that he had just had dinner at the Buddha Bar and an evening out at the Sass Café, where he had “only” been drinking Tequila.
Out with his sober bodyguard, who preferred to take a taxi home, the footballer got behind the wheel of his Spanish-registered Rolls-Royce before encountering the Monegasque police a little further down the road.
The Public Prosecutor requested a 2-month suspended prison sentence, a 6-month driving ban in Monaco and a €2,000 fine. On Tuesday 4 February, the Monegasque court found him guilty of the offences and sentenced the Dutch international to a 4-month suspended sentence, 2 years’ driving ban in the Principality and a €9,000 fine. The defendant did not attend the hearing and did not appoint a lawyer to represent him.