Manchester City’s Samir Nasri has lost his battle with police over unpaid speeding fines and has been banned from driving for six months.
Nasri is the second Blues player in a week to receive a ban after Carlos Tevez pleaded guilty on Wednesday to driving while disqualified and without insurance.
According to the Manchester Evening News, City’s French midfielder had forced Greater Manchester police to hand back £1,900 after they sent bailiffs to his home to pick the cash up.
He signed a declaration saying he did not know his Mercedes had been caught on speed cameras three times.
But traffic police responded by launching their own investigation, which brought the Frenchman’s case back to court.
Nasri finally admitted three charges of failing to tell police who was behind the wheel. As a result, he was banned from driving for six months and ordered to pay his fines for a second time.
The saga began when Nasri’s car triggered three speed cameras over four months in 2011.
On 9 September 2011 it was photographed travelling at 70mph in a 40 zone. A month later, it was caught speeding at 39mph in a 30 zone and on 7 December, it triggered a camera while doing 38mph in a 30 zone.
Nasri denied the allegations when they were first heard last June, and the bailiffs were sent in after he was found guilty.
The case was heard again this week by Tameside magistrates. Nasri, 25, did not attend, but admitted the motoring offences through his defence team.
He pleaded guilty to three charges of failing to provide police with a driver’s identity. He has never admitted being the driver at the time his car was caught speeding.
He was fined £667 for each offence, and ordered to pay £105 costs. His licence was endorsed with 18 penalty points, and he was banned from driving for six months.
Nasri’s defence solicitor, Nick Terry, told magistrates: “Simply, he had a poor system of administration. In this case, the defendant received the notices some months after the driving. It took some time for the notices to be sent out.
“There will be a disqualification today, and he’s aware of that. He’s not driving at present and I will inform him immediately after the hearing of that disqualification.
“I don’t have details of his income, but suffice to say he can pay whatever fine is deemed suitable by the courts.”
