English Footballer Banned From Driving For Mobile Phone Use
English footballer Jermain Defoe may be banned from driving after pleading guilty to using his mobile phone while driving. He may play for the England national football team as well as the Tottenham Hotspur English Premier League but that doesn't mean that he's above the law.
Driving bans are among the most common cell phone laws around the world. Many governments have adopted laws to prevent talking or texting while behind the wheel. Of course, these laws typically don't ban you from the road all together. In Defoe's case, the problem is that he's racked up a number of other driving penalties in recent years.
The football star seems to have a problem with speeding. Less than a year ago he was penalized with a six month ban from driving. He hadn't been driving again for long when he was caught with the mobile phone behind the wheel.
Originally, Defoe did try to weasel his way out of the charge. He pled not guilty and hired celebrity lawyer Nick Freeman to try to find a loophole in the cell phone law that would get him out of the sticky situation. Freeman made more than one attempt, appealing the charge using a range of different excuses including:
- Maybe Defoe wasn't really driving since there was no "proof".
- The paperwork for the charge wasn't properly executed.
- The court couldn't actually prove that Defoe had received the prior speeding notices.
- The court couldn't prove that he didn't respond to the notices.
The appeals judge essentially said that all of these claims were ridiculous and that the mobile phone ban should definitely come into play in regards to the case. Facing this decision, Defoe went ahead and decided to plead guilty after all.
