Care fined and banned over drink-driving

ENGLAND rugby international Danny Care has been fined a total of £3,100 and banned from driving for 16 months after pleading guilty to drink-driving in Hampshire in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

The Harlequins scrum-half was stopped at the Winchester services on the M3 motorway in the early hours, Southampton Magistrates’ Court heard. The incident led to the 25-year-old being excluded from the Six Nations squad.

It came three weeks after he had been fined by police for being drunk and disorderly.

On New Year’s Eve, hours before his arrest, Care tweeted: “2012 is hopefully going to be a massive year... Earn respect. Earn the shirt. Set the example.”

Care pleaded guilty to the offence of driving with excess alcohol and the court heard that a breath test showed he had 77mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

He also elected to attend a 16-hour drink-driving rehabilitation course which, if he completes it, will reduce his driving ban to 12 months.

Care did not comment as he left court but after his arrest he said: “I do accept that I made a very bad decision on the evening in question and need to take the punishment that the courts hand out.”