ARSENAL PLAYER FACES JAIL

Last updated : 01 March 2005 By editor

The Birmingham City player, currently on loan from Arsenal, was warned last month he could be given a jail sentence after he admitted the charges following an incident in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

From Agencies:

'Pennant was arrested in January after he was spotted in a car park in the town driving a Mercedes with a lamp post dragging beneath it.

Aylesbury Magistrates' Court heard last month that when Pennant, of Barnet, north London, was stopped his eyes were glazed and his speech slurred.

A breath test found he was almost two-and-a-half times the legal alcohol limit with 85 micrograms per 100ml of breath, the court heard. The legal maximum is 35 micrograms per 100ml.

The former England Under-21 star had been banned from driving for 16 months in February last year after being seen travelling in the wrong lane in Paddington, west London. That period was later cut after the footballer completed a special course. Pennant pleaded guilty at last month's hearing to charges of drink driving, driving while disqualified and using a vehicle without insurance.