Ant McPartlin Pleads Guilty
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Speaking outside of Wimbledon Court, Ant McPartlin apologised after pleading guilty to drink driving last month in Richmond, London. He has been fined £86,000 and given a 20-month driving ban.
He said to crowds outside the court:
‘I let myself down, I let a lot of people down. For that, I’m truly sorry.’
He said he was ‘thankful no-one was hurt’ in the three-car collision. The court heard that he was over twice the legal limit. In a letter read out in court, he was ‘ashamed and mortified’ and ‘accepts full responsibility’ for his actions. The fine is also the largest ever to be handed down in a British court for drink driving.
He had 75 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath when he was subjected to the test. The district judge, Barbara Barnes, described the defendant as a ‘well-known and successful entertainer’, taking into account his weekly £130,000 income when working out the fine.
When passing his sentence, she stated:
‘At the time when it happened, you were struggling with various personal problems and also alcohol issues for some months. This incident happened, sadly, when it seems you suffered a brief relapse.’
Her words are like ice in this next bit, stating she had previously thought of McPartlin as an ‘exemplary character’, but that he was ‘no longer a man of good character’. He was sentenced like anyone else. He could see his 20-month ban reduced should he take part in a drink-drive referral programme by mid-May 2019.
McPartlin’s barrister said that his client was seeking help for ‘alcohol and emotional issues’ at the time of the crash and has continued to seek help with a painkiller addiction.
His presenting partner Declan Donnelly hosted the final two episode of their popular show Saturday Night Takeaway alone and will also host Britain’s Got Talent alone. McPartlin will appear in the audition episodes, however.