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Tom Lawrence and Mason Bennett: Derby County stars charged with drink-driving

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  • Good , I never heard of anyone getting done for drink driving and tinned .

    Colleague of mine not exactly sacked, but told he had no future and needed to look elsewhere if he wanted to get on, so off he went. 
  • Good , I never heard of anyone getting done for drink driving and tinned .

    Yeah, we had a pm who lost his job after getting done for drink driving.
  • Anyone know of work colleagues that have been sacked for drink driving ?
    Probably depends on what you do and what sector

    If you have an office job in London, probably not a big deal. If you work as a driver or in a sensitive sector like brewing then it's definitely a sackable offence
  • edited October 2019
    killerandflash said: photo 
    Very surprised Wales called up Lawrence, surely they're not so desperate for players that they couldn't have dropped him for these fixtures
    Man who screws his sister in law and has no morals, calls up drink driving player!

    Just hope William's and Lockyer are not offered lifts
  • iaitch said:
    Isn't it?

    Fiiish says 'it never ceases to amaze me how willing clubs are to sell their morals to chase success'. 

    Charlton didn't sack Bowyer because he was a better prospect than the other player. So we just overlook his discretion.
    Don't think we sacked Dean Chandler  

    Both players were banned for a few months in 1994 for failing the drugs test.

    Chandler wasn't released until the end of the 1996/7 season when he joined Lincoln.

    Chandler was still at Charlton AFTER we had sold Bowyer in the summer of 1996 IIRC
    Wasnt there a third lad after Bowyer and Chandler who got kicked out?
    Stuart ? .. sacked by Curbs ?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Stuart
    Looks like he had an eventful career:
    • Sacked by Charlton and banned for testing positive to cocaine and cannabis
    • 7 yellows and 2 reds in one season for Millwall
    • Had his nose broken whilst at Bury, allegedly by an elbow from Wade Elliott 
    • Dropped down to non-league, two red cards whilst playing for Hornchurch. One for a fight in the tunnel, one for punching his own teammate
    • Whilst playing for Grays Athletic, involved in an incident where Chris Beardsley's jaw was broken in two places. Arrested for GBH, but later acquitted in court
    Gary Lineker eat your heart out.
  • Anyone know of work colleagues that have been sacked for drink driving ?
    Yes. Back in the early 90's mind. Area manager was "released" after bring done for drink driving. If you drove a company car in those days you had to have a spotless record.
  • clb74 said:
    T_C_E said:
    Former work colleague. Yep.....
    Was you not a pilot in your previous job though
    I was, but as soon as we saw that Harrier in our rear view mirror we knew we were in trouble. 😉
  • Stig said:
    iaitch said:
    Isn't it?

    Fiiish says 'it never ceases to amaze me how willing clubs are to sell their morals to chase success'. 

    Charlton didn't sack Bowyer because he was a better prospect than the other player. So we just overlook his discretion.
    Don't think we sacked Dean Chandler  

    Both players were banned for a few months in 1994 for failing the drugs test.

    Chandler wasn't released until the end of the 1996/7 season when he joined Lincoln.

    Chandler was still at Charlton AFTER we had sold Bowyer in the summer of 1996 IIRC
    Wasnt there a third lad after Bowyer and Chandler who got kicked out?
    Stuart ? .. sacked by Curbs ?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Stuart
    Looks like he had an eventful career:
    • Sacked by Charlton and banned for testing positive to cocaine and cannabis
    • 7 yellows and 2 reds in one season for Millwall
    • Had his nose broken whilst at Bury, allegedly by an elbow from Wade Elliott 
    • Dropped down to non-league, two red cards whilst playing for Hornchurch. One for a fight in the tunnel, one for punching his own teammate
    • Whilst playing for Grays Athletic, involved in an incident where Chris Beardsley's jaw was broken in two places. Arrested for GBH, but later acquitted in court
    Gary Lineker eat your heart out.
    and according to wiki he's still playing at age 42 .. who said 'the drugs don't work' ? (just jesting)
  • Derby County footballers Tom Lawrence and Mason Bennett have pleaded guilty to drink-driving.

    The pair were charged after a Range Rover Sport and Mercedes GLC crashed in Derby after a team-building dinner.

    At the city's magistrates' court they also admitted failing to stop at the scene of the crash on 24 September.

    The court heard Lawrence, 25, gave a breath test reading of 58mcg per 100ml and Bennett a reading of 64. The legal limit is 35mcg per 100ml.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-50041085

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  • Lawrence and Bennett were ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work, given a 12-month community order and banned from driving for two years.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-50041085
  • It's insane that footballers can get a ban for using cannabis, any athlete in fact.
    Incomparable situation I'm afraid 
  • clive said:
    no fine ? .. I was recently banned for 6 months, fined £500 with £88 costs for 5 speeding offences (MWay speeding, NOT along narrow country lanes or past schools when the infants were on their way home walking along with mum) ((:>)
  • Strange there was no fine, 180hours is a lot though... 6 months of Sundays.
  • Strange there was no fine, 180hours is a lot though... 6 months of Sundays.
    or 5 x 35 hour weeks
  • Lenient considering they also failed to stop at the scene
  • Sage said:
    Pathetic sentence, justice system in this country is ridiculous.
    Totally agree. I expect both will be in their squad on saturday. I hope all fans show their disgust if either get on the pitch. Boo's wont be enough for me.
  • clive said:
    Lawrence and Bennett were ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work, given a 12-month community order and banned from driving for two years.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-50041085

    'intelligent'? You'd seriously have to question that. Sentencing in this country way too lenient. Drink Driving should automatically incur at least a five year ban, I'd argue even ten years. A car is a lethal weapon. They are just lucky no-one was killed although I doubt the extra 30 hours community service would worry them.  
  • Strange there was no fine, 180hours is a lot though... 6 months of Sundays.
    or 5 x 35 hour weeks
    you are only allowed to do one, seven hour day a week
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  • Lenient considering they also failed to stop at the scene
    I'm gonna side with the judge and say he knows what he was doing.
  • Sage said:
    Pathetic sentence, justice system in this country is ridiculous.
    Totally agree. I expect both will be in their squad on saturday. I hope all fans show their disgust if either get on the pitch. Boo's wont be enough for me.
    Wait, what are you planning?! 
  • edited October 2019

    Derby County footballers Tom Lawrence and Mason Bennett have avoided jail after pleading guilty to drink-driving.

    The pair were over the limit when their cars crashed on the A6 near Allestree in Derby after a team-building dinner.

    At the city's magistrates' court they also admitted failing to stop at the scene of the crash on 24 September.

    Lawrence and Bennett were ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work, given a 12-month community order and banned from driving for two years.

    District Judge Jonathan Taaffe had warned them a prison sentence was an option, as passengers were in the cars and they had left the scene.

    Sentencing, he said the "intelligent and talented young men" had "brought shame upon yourselves, your family, your profession and your club".

    Marianne Connally, prosecuting, said the players were driving home at about 23:30 BST after a night out at the Joiner's Arms pub.

    Lawrence's car smashed into the back of Bennett's, before continuing across a roundabout and hitting "street furniture", she added.

    Ms Connally said a paramedic crew witnessed the crash "entirely by chance" and came to the aid of two passengers at the scene as the defendants fled.

    Lawrence and Bennett, 23, returned to the scene about 45 minutes later and were arrested.

    Derby captain Richard Keogh, who was a passenger in one of the cars, sustained a knee injury that has ruled him out for up to 15 months.

    The court heard Welsh international Lawrence, 25, gave a breath test reading of 58mcg per 100ml and Bennett a reading of 64. The legal limit is 35mcg per 100ml.

    Lucy Whitaker, defending Bennett, said he had been sick at the pub after being "pressured" to drink a Jagerbomb shot by team-mates.

    He admitted he had drunk "some alcohol", but was driving "perfectly normally" when the crash occurred, Ms Whitaker said.

    Bennett "panicked" and then left the scene, before returning after he received a call from Lawrence, the court heard.

    Shaun Draycott, defending Lawrence, said references - including from Wales manager Ryan Giggs - suggested he was a "decent young man who behaved out of character".

    Mr Draycott said Lawrence had become "quite dependent" on alcohol since the death of his mother, to whom he was very close.

    Lawrence had made a "gross error of judgement" which is a "matter of extreme regret", he added.

    The district judge told Lawrence, of Duffield, and Bennett, of Whaley Thorns near Mansfield, someone could have died in the crash.

    "Many of the supporters who pay their money to watch you will be incredulous that professional athletes on a so-called team-building day during the season are drinking and then taking the decision to drive," he said.

    He told them the most aggravating feature was that they "left the scene when a fellow professional was injured in one of the vehicles".

    The decision to leave may have been an act of panic or "perhaps to save your own skins, when you realised the magnitude of what had occurred", the judge added.

    The pair were fined six weeks' wages by the club after the crash - the maximum their contracts would allow.

  • According to The Grauniad:

    "...the court heard from a probation officer, who said that Lawrence had told her he thought he would lose his job if he were jailed. She said he also said he thought prison would “mess with his head”. A second probation officer said that Bennett was “extremely concerned about the prospect of a custodial sentence”. She said the player told her he thought he would struggle with prison and he worried about the effect it would have on his four-year-old daughter."

    and 

    Shaun Draycott, representing Lawrence, said ... Lawrence had become “quite dependent” on alcohol since the death of his mother, to whom he was very close. He said his mother’s death “has impacted greatly on this young man’s psychological health”.

    Which is why they have had community service rather than a custodial one.

    Personally, I'd give them a suspended custodial, more community service and add to it a five-year ban from driving.
    And if I were the club I'd have sacked them.  Not only have they brought the club into disrepute, but they have more than likely ruled out the captain - their fellow player - for the rest of the season. 

    And I do have sympathy about being fearful of going to prison - not nice places to be; the threat of a suspended custodial might have ensured the ban was adhered to.  I also know personally how painful losing a parent is, and how easy depression can fall on someone.  But that isn't an excuse to drink-drive and in the process injure the club captain.  It's not as if a football player for a club like Derby can't afford a taxi home.  And as an aside, if this was a employer-organised event to promote team building (how ironic) then do they bear some responsibility for ensuring players don't drink drive?

    there was cars laid on by the club which they turned down
  • clive said:
    Lawrence and Bennett were ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work, given a 12-month community order and banned from driving for two years.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-50041085

    'intelligent'? You'd seriously have to question that. Sentencing in this country way too lenient. Drink Driving should automatically incur at least a five year ban, I'd argue even ten years. A car is a lethal weapon. They are just lucky no-one was killed although I doubt the extra 30 hours community service would worry them.  
    I'd argue a permanent ban. 

    If you drink and drive, you don't deserve to drive at all.

    I wonder if they can blag the club community work as community service? Suddenly punishment seems even more lenient if so.
  • According to The Grauniad:

    "...the court heard from a probation officer, who said that Lawrence had told her he thought he would lose his job if he were jailed. She said he also said he thought prison would “mess with his head”. A second probation officer said that Bennett was “extremely concerned about the prospect of a custodial sentence”. She said the player told her he thought he would struggle with prison and he worried about the effect it would have on his four-year-old daughter."

    and 

    Shaun Draycott, representing Lawrence, said ... Lawrence had become “quite dependent” on alcohol since the death of his mother, to whom he was very close. He said his mother’s death “has impacted greatly on this young man’s psychological health”.

    Which is why they have had community service rather than a custodial one.

    Personally, I'd give them a suspended custodial, more community service and add to it a five-year ban from driving.
    And if I were the club I'd have sacked them.  Not only have they brought the club into disrepute, but they have more than likely ruled out the captain - their fellow player - for the rest of the season. 

    And I do have sympathy about being fearful of going to prison - not nice places to be; the threat of a suspended custodial might have ensured the ban was adhered to.  I also know personally how painful losing a parent is, and how easy depression can fall on someone.  But that isn't an excuse to drink-drive and in the process injure the club captain.  It's not as if a football player for a club like Derby can't afford a taxi home.  And as an aside, if this was a employer-organised event to promote team building (how ironic) then do they bear some responsibility for ensuring players don't drink drive?

    there was cars laid on by the club which they turned down
    I wonder if the judge knew this....because for this alone I would have banned them for 5 years. 
  • According to The Grauniad:

    "...the court heard from a probation officer, who said that Lawrence had told her he thought he would lose his job if he were jailed. She said he also said he thought prison would “mess with his head”. A second probation officer said that Bennett was “extremely concerned about the prospect of a custodial sentence”. She said the player told her he thought he would struggle with prison and he worried about the effect it would have on his four-year-old daughter."

    and 

    Shaun Draycott, representing Lawrence, said ... Lawrence had become “quite dependent” on alcohol since the death of his mother, to whom he was very close. He said his mother’s death “has impacted greatly on this young man’s psychological health”.

    Which is why they have had community service rather than a custodial one.

    Personally, I'd give them a suspended custodial, more community service and add to it a five-year ban from driving.
    And if I were the club I'd have sacked them.  Not only have they brought the club into disrepute, but they have more than likely ruled out the captain - their fellow player - for the rest of the season. 

    And I do have sympathy about being fearful of going to prison - not nice places to be; the threat of a suspended custodial might have ensured the ban was adhered to.  I also know personally how painful losing a parent is, and how easy depression can fall on someone.  But that isn't an excuse to drink-drive and in the process injure the club captain.  It's not as if a football player for a club like Derby can't afford a taxi home.  And as an aside, if this was a employer-organised event to promote team building (how ironic) then do they bear some responsibility for ensuring players don't drink drive?

    Surely EVERYONE facing prison (certainly for the first time) is desperately worried about the prospect, so I really don't see the relevance of this. And what about all the other prisoners with young children?

    That Lawrence is quite dependent on alcohol is surely irrelevant as well, as the crime wasn't being drunk but drink driving, which was his choice.
  • clive said:
    no fine ? .. I was recently banned for 6 months, fined £500 with £88 costs for 5 speeding offences (MWay speeding, NOT along narrow country lanes or past schools when the infants were on their way home walking along with mum) ((:>)
    They were both fined 6 weeks wages by Derby. When you got banned, did your work fine you?

    You could argue that what good is the court fining them anyway, they probably have enough money to not care.
  • Strange there was no fine, 180hours is a lot though... 6 months of Sundays.
    Depends what it's doing though. If it's clearing up shit in the park during winter then it's a lot, but i suspect they'll probably get away with coaching at some sort of community football school or something.
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