Leicester City’s star receives massive fine and suspension for drunk driving

Leicester City star Hamza Choudhury was fined £20,000 for drink-driving on the wrong side of the road in his wife’s Range Rover.

Choudhury, of Edwalton, Nottinghamshire, pleaded guilty to exceeding the legal alcohol limit and negligent driving.

Nottingham Magistrates’ Court was shown police dashcam footage of the 26-year-old being pulled over on Loughborough Road in West Bridgford, Nottingham, in the early hours of Friday, January 19. Choudhury, who was arrested, gave two breath-test readings at a police station, the lowest of which was 71 mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, more than double the legal limit of 35mcg, prosecutor Ben Payne told the court.

Mr Payne noted that Choudhury had a previous drink-driving conviction from 2017, which meant he faced a minimum three-year penalty. Choudhury’s defense counsel, Kally Sohata, told the court that client had shared a taxi home from a dinner with a friend but had returned in his wife’s car after realizing he had forgotten his phone.

District Judge Sunil Khanna told Choudhury, who earns £12,000 per week, when passing sentence: “I do accept that this will impact you and that you are extremely embarrassed by what has occurred.”

Choudhury was told that completing a drink-driving rehabilitation course would decrease his 40-month penalty by around nine months. Mr Payne informed the court that an allegation of failing to comply with a roadside breath test had been dropped.

Choudhury was also issued a 40-month driving restriction and forced to pay a £2,000 victim surcharge and £85 in prosecution costs.