Footballer faces fresh hearing over driving charge

Footballer Michail Antonio will return to court next year over allegations he failed to tell police who was driving his Lamborghini when it was clocked speeding in Birmingham.

The former Premier League striker was due to be sentenced at the city's magistrates' court on Friday, after being found guilty in his absence earlier this year.

Judge Monroe agreed the case would be reheard in March, after Antonio told the court his life had "spiralled" following a serious crash.

"I wasn't around for the court [hearing] that just happened [because] I was in Qatar trying to sort my football career out," he said.

The former West Ham striker spent three weeks in hospital after he crashed his Ferrari into a tree in Epping Forest in December 2024.

He currently has six points on his licence, including for having no insurance at the time of the crash.

His Lamborghini was caught speeding on Lee Bank Middleway and Belgrave Middleway in Birmingham city centre in March 2025, and he now faces a further six penalty points for failing to notify police of the identity of the driver the following month.

If convicted, he will be disqualified from driving.

But he told the judge on Friday he had given the vehicle to a car company for them to arrange a sale.

"I almost died in a car crash on the 7th of December 2025," he told the court.

"On the 1st of March I wasn't even physically driving at the time because I broke my femur [and] I wasn't allowed to drive."

The judge decided to set aside the conviction and allow the case to be reheard.

The 36-year-old Jamaica international, who now plays for a club in the Qatar Stars League, will next appear at Birmingham Magistrates' Court on 2 March.

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