Dean Saunders: Former Liverpool striker jailed after failing to provide roadside breath test
'You have shown yourself to be arrogant, thinking your previous and current role in the public eye entitles you to be above the law,' judge says
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Former Liverpool striker Dean Saunders has been jailed for failing to comply with a roadside breath test.
Saunders, who also played for Aston Villa and Derby County and was capped by Wales 75 times, is a regular football TV pundit.
The 55-year-old was stopped on suspicion of drink driving by police in Boughton, Chester, on 10 May.
Police who arrested Saunders said he was was slurring his speech and had to prop himself up against his Audi A8 when he was asked to get out of the car.
He pleaded guilty to failing to comply with a roadside breath test and failing to provide a breath sample for analysis.
Saunders was sentenced to 10 weeks' imprisonment at Chester Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.
Saunders, of Whitegate, near Northwich in Cheshire, had initially denied both charges at an earlier hearing.
He was also banned from driving for 30 months and ordered to pay court costs of £620.
Saunders said he had been out at Chester Races and had drunk two pints.
His lawyer suggested this may have “interacted” with the medication he takes for injury to his knees and his inhaler for his asthma.
Saunders was due to go on trial on Wednesday but indicated through his lawyers on Tuesday that he would not be contesting the charges and entered his guilty plea on Wednesday morning.
Passing sentence, district judge Nicholas Sanders told the footballer: “Throughout these proceedings you have shown yourself to be arrogant, thinking you are someone whose previous and current role in the public eye entitles you to be above the law.
“In fact the opposite is true - someone in the public eye should expect a deterrent sentence when they flout the law.”
Press Association