Chelsea star banned from driving

Chelsea star John Mikel Obi has been banned from driving for 15 months after admitting drinking and driving.

The midfielder, who also plays for Nigeria, was arrested on 24 January in his Range Rover on Fulham Road, west London, near the club's ground.

The player, 21, from Weybridge, Surrey, was found by police to be almost twice the drink-drive limit.

District Judge Jeremy Coleman also ordered Mikel to pay £1,580, at the West London Magistrates' Court hearing.

Mikel's solicitor told the court the player would not attend a drink driving course, which could shorten his sentence. Instead the player "would just like to serve it out".

Mikel was stopped when officers became suspicious about the way he was driving, prosecutor Fubhanur Chowdhury told the court.

"The reason he was stopped is he was driving at speed. The officers became suspicious of the manner in which he was driving.

"They could smell alcohol on his breath. There were three attempts to provide a sample and the result was positive," he said.

The player was found to have 66 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms.

'Deeply apologetic'

The court heard he had drunk four to five glasses of wine at dinner after watching his team play at Stamford Bridge.

Mikel's solicitor Neil Shestopal said the player would normally be driven home by a friend, but on this occasion he had to take the wheel when his friend was called away.

"This was a very unfortunate incident for which my client is deeply apologetic," said Mr Shestopal.

"He is not an irresponsible driver and apologises to the court for this really very deeply indeed."

The prosecution withdrew a charge of driving without a proper licence against him after they found he held a valid international licence.