Former England captain Paul Ince has been banned from driving and ordered to pay £7,085 after admitting drink-driving.
The 57-year-old appeared at Chester Magistrates’ Court on Friday where he admitted driving his black Range Rover while over the limit on June 28 in Neston, Cheshire.
District Judge Jack McGarva told Ince: “The message has got to be if you’re going to drive, you don’t drink at all.”
He was banned from driving for 12 months, fined £5,000 and ordered to pay a £2,000 statutory surcharge and £85 costs.
Arriving at court, he signed an autograph with a fan and posed for a selfie with another.
Ince had a reading of 49 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath when he was stopped by police after driving on Chester High Road, the court heard.
Nigel Jones, prosecuting, said: “On the day in question, the defendant was witnessed by an off-duty police officer driving a vehicle perceived to be swerving across the road.”
He said the car swerved across the central reservation, hitting bollards and causing two tyres to burst.
The car then pulled into a petrol station where police officers attended.
Frank Rogers, defending, said: “My client finds himself today facing the huge impact of a ban, but he accepts he only has himself to blame for that.
“He misjudged the fact he believed at the time he would be under the limit.”
Mr Rogers said Ince had been at Heswall Golf Club for a competition and had not eaten before having two drinks in the clubhouse.
He said: “He felt fine to drive, of course we now know that he shouldn’t have done.”
He said that as he was driving home, Ince approached a roundabout at about 20mph when his phone slipped and he instinctively reached for it and veered the car, clipping the kerb.
He said: “The vehicle didn’t collide with the bollards. He’s clipped both sides of the island, damaging tyres.”
He said an alert came up on the car about the tyre pressure and Ince pulled into a garage where he inspected the damage, called his wife and was about to call the Range Rover assist helpline when police arrived.
Mr Rogers said Ince had been driving for 39 years and had three points on his licence.
He is a frequent visitor and supporter to the Future Youth Zone charity in Dagenham, where he grew up, and also supports Claire House Children’s Hospice in Wirral, he said.
Mr Rogers outlined Ince’s playing career and said he then went into management.
He added: “He now does a limited amount of media work and charity work.” He said Ince wished to apologise to the court.
District Judge McGarva said: “I am going to presume he has substantial assets, given the playing career you have outlined to me.”
Mr Rogers said: “He may well have substantial assets but certainly not substantial income.”
As he left court, Ince handed a piece of paper to a reporter with a picture of the central reservation and bollards on.
The former West Ham, Manchester United, Inter Milan and Liverpool midfielder won 53 caps for his country.
After retiring, he moved into management, most recently working for Reading between 2022 and 2023.