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Catrin Williams, The Western Mail | ||
A CARDIFF City footballer was warned he faces a driving ban when he appeared in court accused of speeding yesterday. Defender Spencer Prior appeared at Chepstow Magistrates accused of speeding at 100mph through Newport. It was the third speeding offence the 31-year-old has faced since May 2001. Magistrates gave the former Premiership player a £500 fine, £35 costs to pay with five points - a sentence branded too short-sighted for a consistent offender last night. Prior, smartly dressed in a dark grey suit, admitted driving in a borrowed Mercedes car at exactly 30mph above the speed limit on the city's A4042 dual carriageway. The father-of-two had promised his wife Claire he would return early to their home in Shirenewton, near Chepstow, and realised he was running late, his solicitor told the court. He was dashing home after attending a team-mate's birthday party when a police officer tracked the vehicle about 11pm on August Bank Holiday Saturday and stopped him on the M4 link road. But 6ft 3in Prior, who was also caught speeding in May 2001 and 2002, denied telling the officer, "I am sorry. I suppose this will mean a trip to court." Nigel Daniel, defending, said his client covered 30,000 miles on the road each year organising an "ex-tensive amount of charity work", including a recent dinner dance at Cardiff's five-star St David's Hotel for 400 guests in aid of Cancer Research. "It is this unseen and unreported work which requires Mr Prior to travel," said Mr Daniel. "He is a very generous and kind-hearted person who has driven more quickly in the past than he should have. "He assures me it will not happen again." Mrs Prior sat in court dressed in black trousers and a beige coat, heard the solicitor say that she had suffered a miscarriage last year and was now 12 weeks' pregnant. Early complications, however, meant the couple regularly visited a specialist ante-natal clinic in Bristol. Chair of the bench Maureen Stephens, adding five new points to the six Southend-born Prior already has on his licence, warned him that just one more could lead to an out-right driving ban. "Should you speed again you will be suspended for six months," she said. Driving watchdog the RAC Foundation said Prior's record meant magistrates should have forced him to attend a educational road safety course. "They are very hard-hitting and focus on the very real impact speeding can have on people's lives, such as deaths in the family and what people can do to address their behaviour," said the found-ation's spokesman Jonathan Simpson. "Certainly in this case he needs to be more aware of his own safety and that of others on the road. Speeding at any time causes many, many accidents and people need to be aware of the speed limit. "In this case it is a high-profile person and people are role models if they are in public life. "They ultimately need to address their behaviour if they have been in court a number of times for this." Cardiff City spent £700,000 in 2001 persuading Manchester City to part with the defender, who says he wants to finish his career playing at Ninian Park. Fans know him as a solid player with few discipline problems on the field. This season he has clocked up four yellow cards in 23 appearances. He also holds the experience of five seasons at Premiership level under his belt with Manchester City, Leicester City, Derby County and Norwich County. The couple chose not to comment after the hearing. |