Source: Team_Talk
Driving ban for Rovers gaffer
lackburn manager Steve Kean was given an 18-month driving ban and fined £1,800 on Monday after being convicted of drink-driving.[LNB] He had earlier pleaded guilty but applied to escape the ban, claiming his drink was spiked.[LNB]But a judge at Macclesfield Magistrates' Court in Cheshire rejected the "special reasons" application, saying Kean had failed to prove his drink had been laced.[LNB]The 43-year-old was almost twice the legal limit when he failed a breath test just hours after his side played Manchester United in the Premier League last May.[LNB]Kean, of Weybridge, Surrey, changed his plea to guilty of driving with excess alcohol shortly before his trial was due to begin today.[LNB]Kean was breathalysed after his black Mercedes was pulled over by police on the southbound carriageway of the M6 near Knutsford, Cheshire, at 8.30pm on May 14.[LNB]The prosecution say he sped past a marked patrol car at 90mph.[LNB]The officers, who were driving at 50mph, pulled him over and gave him a breath test which recorded 65 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.[LNB]The legal limit is 35 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath.[LNB]Kean admitted drinking two-and-a-half glasses of red wine with Sir Alex Ferguson after the game, and later a bottle of Budweiser at a pub near his Blackburn home.[LNB]A medical expert said that quantity of alcohol would have been insufficient to cause the breathalyser reading.[LNB]The defence argued that one of his drinks must have been spiked.[LNB]But the prosecution said there was another possibility, that Kean was lying about his alcohol consumption that day.[LNB]Giving evidence, Kean told District Judge Nicholas Sanders there was a "celebratory" mood at Ewood Park after the game because United had clinched the Premier League title and the 1-1 result was considered a "good point" for Rovers.[LNB]After both managers had taken part in their press conferences, Kean hosted Sir Alex and around 10 United officials to a reception at his office.[LNB]Also present were around 10 Blackburn officials who enjoyed food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.[LNB]He said: "When I first went in I poured Sir Alex a glass of red wine and I poured one for myself.[LNB]"I wished them all the best and congratulated them on winning the title."[LNB]He said Sir Alex later poured him a second glass of red wine, and he had a further half glass.[LNB]"I was well aware that I was driving so I had two-and-a-half glasses over the course of an hour," he told the court.[LNB]After leaving the stadium, he went to his north-west home to pack some clothes for the drive down to his family home in the south-east.[LNB]Before setting off on the motorway at around 6.30pm, he stopped at the Whalley Arms pub to meet a group of friends who had been to the game.[LNB]He spent around 45 minutes at the pub, which was packed with Rovers, United and other football fans watching the highlights of the FA Cup final.[LNB]During that time he said a friend bought him a bottle of Budweiser which he drank out of a small glass.[LNB]He said he frequently left the glass unattended as he talked to football supporters, signed autographs and posed for photographs.[LNB]Questioned by counsel for the defence James Harrison about how he felt as he left the pub, Kean said: "Football is an emotional game and your adrenaline is rushing but I felt fine.[LNB]"I was happy but not intoxicated, not at all.[LNB]"I have done that journey lots of times and wouldn't attempt to do it (drunk)."
