Demented Didi gets driving ban
Footballer Dietmar Hamann has been banned from driving for six months and told to pay more than £7,000 in fines for a series of motoring offences.
The German Manchester City midfielder crashed his £70,000 Porsche into a fence in Styal, Cheshire, in 2006, but did not report it to the police.
The 34-year-old, of Alderley Edge, was convicted of failing to stop after an accident and other offences last month.
He was sentenced at Macclesfield Magistrates' Court on Monday.
Hamann, who has also played for Liverpool and Newcastle United, pleaded guilty to failing to supply information to police in September.
He was also convicted of driving without due care and attention, failing to stop after an accident and failing to report an accident - charges he had denied.
The court heard that a police officer could smell alcohol on the player's breath, but he was not breathalysed.
He was fined £7,750 and ordered to pay £500 costs by magistrates.
The court heard that the footballer's Porsche crashed in the early hours of 31 October last year on the A538 Altrincham to Wilmslow road.
Nicola Roberts, prosecuting, said a witness saw a man dressed in a dinner suit walking on the cycle way towards Wilmslow, waving his arms about, twitching, blinking and talking to himself.
The witness continued and saw a car embedded in a fence.
"The witness stopped his vehicle and approached the car - the Porsche's engine was still hissing," she said.
"He believed the man he had just seen gesticulating wildly had been the driver and contacted the police."
She added that two officers saw Hamann running from the scene and stopped him but did not breathalyse him.
She said: "They asked him if he was the owner of the car and he answered 'No, I couldn't drive like this. I like you. Do you like me? I fancy a kebab'.
"He smelt of intoxicants and said he had been to the Honey Bee [a nearby pub]."
The prosecutor said the pub would have been closed for at least three hours before Hamann was in the area.
The two policemen left Hamann and visited the crash scene where they suspected the player had been the driver.
They returned to find him but failed.
Hamann was interviewed by police the following November when he refused to divulge the driver's details.
The player's barrister, Tom Gilbart, asked the court to impose penalty points rather than a fine.
He said: "Nobody else was injured during the accident, no other vehicle was damaged, the only damage done other than to his vehicle was to the fence belonging to Manchester Airport and full reparations were made as soon as possible and paid in full by Mr Hamann.
"This isn't a drink driving case.
"The offence is totally out of character for the defendant."
Hamann, who has one week to pay the court, was also given a £45 on-the-spot fine in February for not wearing a seatbelt and a £45 on-the-spot fine in April for eating a large and difficult-to-handle kebab whilst driving.
The German Manchester City midfielder crashed his £70,000 Porsche into a fence in Styal, Cheshire, in 2006, but did not report it to the police.
The 34-year-old, of Alderley Edge, was convicted of failing to stop after an accident and other offences last month.
He was sentenced at Macclesfield Magistrates' Court on Monday.
Hamann, who has also played for Liverpool and Newcastle United, pleaded guilty to failing to supply information to police in September.
He was also convicted of driving without due care and attention, failing to stop after an accident and failing to report an accident - charges he had denied.
The court heard that a police officer could smell alcohol on the player's breath, but he was not breathalysed.
He was fined £7,750 and ordered to pay £500 costs by magistrates.
The court heard that the footballer's Porsche crashed in the early hours of 31 October last year on the A538 Altrincham to Wilmslow road.
Nicola Roberts, prosecuting, said a witness saw a man dressed in a dinner suit walking on the cycle way towards Wilmslow, waving his arms about, twitching, blinking and talking to himself.
The witness continued and saw a car embedded in a fence.
"The witness stopped his vehicle and approached the car - the Porsche's engine was still hissing," she said.
"He believed the man he had just seen gesticulating wildly had been the driver and contacted the police."
She added that two officers saw Hamann running from the scene and stopped him but did not breathalyse him.
She said: "They asked him if he was the owner of the car and he answered 'No, I couldn't drive like this. I like you. Do you like me? I fancy a kebab'.
"He smelt of intoxicants and said he had been to the Honey Bee [a nearby pub]."
The prosecutor said the pub would have been closed for at least three hours before Hamann was in the area.
The two policemen left Hamann and visited the crash scene where they suspected the player had been the driver.
They returned to find him but failed.
Hamann was interviewed by police the following November when he refused to divulge the driver's details.
The player's barrister, Tom Gilbart, asked the court to impose penalty points rather than a fine.
He said: "Nobody else was injured during the accident, no other vehicle was damaged, the only damage done other than to his vehicle was to the fence belonging to Manchester Airport and full reparations were made as soon as possible and paid in full by Mr Hamann.
"This isn't a drink driving case.
"The offence is totally out of character for the defendant."
Hamann, who has one week to pay the court, was also given a £45 on-the-spot fine in February for not wearing a seatbelt and a £45 on-the-spot fine in April for eating a large and difficult-to-handle kebab whilst driving.
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