Carlos Tevez pleads guilty to driving offences

FOOTBALLER Carlos Tevez was yesterday ordered to carry out 250 hours of community service after admitting he drove with his licence suspended and without insurance.

• Manchester City footballer Carlos Tevez pleads guilt to driving offences

• Argentina international admits driving while disqualified and without insurance

The Manchester City striker, 29, was also handed a fresh six-month driving ban and ordered to pay fines and costs of £1,145 but escaped a six-month prison sentence – the maximum punishment for the driving while disqualified.

“Mr Tevez, you must realise you are a role model to thousands, if not millions, of fans but nobody is above the law,” magistrate Elizabeth Depares said.

Tevez, one of the Premier League’s highest-paid players, was seven weeks into a six-month driving ban – for failing to respond to police requests for information relating to speeding offences – when he was stopped while driving a sports car near his home on 7 March, following an anonymous tip-off, Macclesfield Magistrates’ Court heard.

The Argentina international was driving home from a golf club and when stopped told officers: “I only live down the road. Two minutes.”