Ranger Gets Off With Court Charge!

21 March 2012 18:15
Nile Ranger escaped a fine on Wednesday after admitting a charge of being drunk and disorderly.

It is the second time this week that the 20-year-old Newcastle United player has appeared in court.

Ranger was handed a six-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £135 costs on Wednesday after Newcastle Magistrates' Court heard he was held for questioning by police for four hours when arrested in the city's Cathedral Square in the early hours of October 30 last year.

At the same court on Tuesday he admitted breaching bail conditions imposed while he awaits trial for four assault charges, to take place at Newcastle Crown Court in June.

Ranger was fined £6,000 by the Football Association earlier this month over a homophobic comment made on social networking side Twitter.

In November, he was fined £3,300 after admitting drinking and driving.

But he still wants a Newcastle United career.

Nile Ranger: "It would be some story if I did come back and get in the team, because I've been getting into a bit of bother now and again.

"People think 'This guy just gets in trouble week in, week out', but it would be good to get goals and show people a different side.

"The key for me is to make the headlines for the right reasons - people know me for the wrong thing.

"I just want to play football and keep my nose clean."

He wasn't the only man to get off with a court case, Stoke City manager Tony Pulis has dodged a driving ban after his lawyer won an extraordinary argument in court.

Pulis was clocked doing 96mph in his BMW in a 60mph zone on the M42 after seeing his men thrashed 5-0 at Bolton, an offence that saw him exceed 12 points on his licence - and should therefore have earned him an automatic ban.

But his solicitor Mike Stephenson successfully argued to magistrates that Pulis would be so badly affected by losing his licence that it would put the club in danger of relegation - a punishment which would affect a huge number of people, businesses who have sunk £60 million into the club and several charities that Pulis supports up and down the country.

"They would suffer if they were relegated as a result - and the children who he would not be able to assist and the people of Stoke could suffer if Mr Pulis lost his licence," Stephenson told Leamington Spa Magistrates' Court.

Stoke are currently 14th in the table, 12 points clear of the relegation places with 10 matches left of the season.

Pulis, who is estimated to earn £1m a year, also claimed he could not use a chauffeur in case his driver discovered and then leaked secret details of transfers.

The Stoke boss, whose top-of-the-range BMW is provided free by local dealer Knights, was fined £2,500 but allowed to carry on driving despite now having 15 points on his licence.

Source: FOOTYMAD