Paul Scholes banned from driving for six months
Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has been banned from driving for six months after receiving two separate motoring convictions in the space of just two days, reports BritPanorama.
The former England midfielder was sentenced following cases involving a speeding offence in West Yorkshire and a failure to provide information to police in Greater Manchester. Scholes, 51, was also ordered to pay a combined £1,472 in fines, costs, and victim surcharges following hearings at two magistrates’ courts last week.
The first case related to an incident on March 3, when a Range Rover registered to Scholes was detected travelling above the speed limit on the A649 Halifax Road near Cleckheaton. Court documents obtained by the Press Association show the vehicle was recorded at 37mph in a 30mph zone shortly after 11.30pm. West Yorkshire Police subsequently issued a notice of intended prosecution, and Scholes responded to confirm that he had been driving.
He was unable to resolve the matter through a speed awareness course because he was classed as a “totter,” meaning he already had penalty points on his licence and had reached the threshold for a mandatory disqualification. Scholes was sentenced at Bradford Magistrates’ Court on August 12, receiving a six-month driving ban along with a £220 fine, £120 in costs, and an £88 victim surcharge.
His legal troubles continued the following day when a separate case was dealt with at Manchester Magistrates’ Court. This prosecution stemmed from an incident involving a Mercedes registered in Scholes’s name on November 14 last year, which was recorded travelling at 49mph in a 30mph limit on the A670 Mossley Road near Ashton-under-Lyne around 11.10am. Greater Manchester Police sought confirmation over who had been driving the vehicle and stated that two letters were sent to Scholes’s home, to which “no reply has been received.”
Eventually, police dropped the speeding allegation but proceeded with the prosecution over the failure to respond to the requests for information. Scholes was fined £660, received six penalty points, and was additionally ordered to pay £120 in costs and a £264 victim surcharge. A court official confirmed that the former United midfielder had not entered pleas in either case and was convicted in his absence.
Both matters were handled under the Single Justice Procedure, which allows certain criminal cases to be resolved by a magistrate without a traditional public hearing. These convictions come more than a decade after Scholes ended one of the most decorated playing careers in English football, during which he became a central figure at Manchester United.
Scholes made 499 league appearances for United, earned 66 caps for England, and collected numerous accolades, including 11 Premier League titles, three FA Cups, and two Champions League triumphs. He initially retired in 2011 before returning to support United later that year, ultimately retiring permanently in 2013. The six-month ban marks a new chapter in Scholes’s life, one that will see his name associated with the law rather than the pitch, highlighting how even the celebrated figures of sport can find themselves at odds with the rules of the road.
