By Daniel Taylor
Carlos Tevez will be represented in his driving case by a solicitor who claims Manchester City call him “Merlin the Magician” because of his successful record of defending club employees from alleged road offences.
The Premier League champions have given Gwyn Lewis the nickname, according to the website of the Manchester-based law firm Burton Copeland, because “he has made many worrying cases disappear”.
Joey Barton, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Danny Mills, all former City players, are among those who give testimonials on drivingoffence.com – Burton Copeland’s specialist website.
The company describes Lewis as someone who “in the past 20 years has concentrated on his passion for defending motorists” and has “a track record of unrivalled success, ranging from minor speeding, traffic light and mobile phone infringements to the most serious cases of drink driving and death by dangerous driving”.
It adds: “Countless motorists have benefited from what the Chambers and Partners guide to the legal profession describe as his ‘resolute and resourceful’ approach. In an area of law where detail is paramount, ‘Merlin the Magician’, as he is called by personnel at Manchester City Football Club for whom he regularly acts, has made many worrying cases disappear.”
Tevez is waiting to discover whether he will be charged after being arrested last week for allegedly being caught behind the wheel on the outskirts of Macclesfield, seven weeks after being banned from driving for six months. The Argentinian faces a possible jail sentence if convicted, the maximum sentence being six months.
Tevez, who scored a hat-trick in City’s 5-0 defeat of Barnsley in the FA Cup on Saturday, had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to supply information over incidents in which his car was clocked speeding.
As well as being banned for six months, he was ordered to pay fines and costs of £1,540. Lewis, who also represented him on that case, had told Manchester magistrates court his client did not understand the word “constabulary” on official letters from the police.
