Henry Blackshaw secures non-custodial sentence for professional footballer threatened with custody

Darron Gibson, a Sunderland and Republic of Ireland international player, had previously pleaded guilty to drink driving after crashing into a row of stationary vehicles in Sunderland on St Patrick’s Day.

South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court had heard how the footballer was on his way to Sunderland’s Academy of Light when he ploughed into the vehicles and continued to drive on. He was arrested at the scene when the roadside test suggested he was three times over the legal limit. He was then charged after a police station breath test confirmed he had 95 micrograms of alcohol in his system.

This was his second such conviction in less than three years.

In adjourning the case for sentence the court had warned him to expect custody. In the event, a community sentence was secured with the assistance of sympathetic medical reports. See the following news coverage for further information: Irish Times, Independent, The Sun.