Blackburn Rovers manager Steve Kean banned from driving

The 43-year-old admitted being almost twice the limit when stopped on the M6 after Blackburn’s draw with Manchester United on May 14.

He had been driving at 90mph when he overtook a police patrol car and initially told officers he had not been drinking.

Kean asked District Judge Nicholas Sanders not to ban him on the basis of a ‘special reasons application’ that his drink had been tampered with.

However, the judge said Kean, of Weybridge, Surrey, had ‘failed to convince’ him that he had unknowingly consumed more alcohol than he claimed and banned him from the road.

He also fined him £1,800 and told him to pay £720 prosecution costs.

During the hearing, Kean gave evidence to say that following the 12.45pm kick-off at Ewood park, in which Manchester United clinched the Premier League title, he had ‘observed the post-game customs and etiquette’ by sharing ‘a full glass of red wine’ with Sir Alex Ferguson in the manager’s office.

Macclesfield Magistrates Court heard he poured the first glass, Sir Alex poured the second full glass and Kean said he had a further half a glass before finally leaving the stadium at 5.30pm.

Kean drove to a flat he uses in the north west and packed a bag as he was heading to London to watch a game the next day and see his family in Surrey.

He then called in at The Whalley Arms in Whalley just after 6pm where his childhood friend from Scotland, Stephen Murray and three guests, who had been at the game, were drinking and watching the FA Cup final.

Kean and Murray both confirmed he was bought a 330ml bottle of Budweiser, which he drank from a glass, but that he left it at the bar on several occasions as he posed with fans and children in the ‘packed pub’.

He left after 45 minutes to start the three-and-a-half hour journey.

Kean’s counsel James Harrison, of legal firm Nick Freeman Solicitors, had asked for an adjournment so that the defence could call Sky Sports interviewer Geoff Shreeves as a witness to ‘corroborate Kean’s account’ and give a ‘flavour’ of the post-match events.

The court heard Mr Shreeves had indicated he was willing to give evidence, but work commitments including covering Manchester City’s game with Swansea toight meant he could not attend.

Judge Sanders dismissed the application and said of Mr Shreeves: “What I don’t know is why that particular commitment has to take priority over what really is his public duty to attend court and give evidence in proceedings here in Macclesfield.”

“Sky is a big organisation presumably they could have found someone to cover for him today if he asked.”

Kean, who attended court with a male friend, was spotted speeding at 90mph just before 9pm in the outside lane close to Allostock, near Holmes Chapel, on the southbound M6 in his Mercedes E-class by PC Christopher Murray, who was himself travelling at 50mph in a marked police car.

He told the officer he had been on the phone to the owners of the club, but when questioned about the smell of alcohol he claimed not to have had a drink at all that day.

The judge later said that was ‘significant’ in his ruling.

Kean gave a roadside reading of 65microgrammes in 100millilitres of breath.

He told the court he was ‘shocked and stunned’ at the result.

He was taken back to the police station where the lower of two further tests read 65 again.

As he was charged just after midnight, the court heard, Kean told the police: “I just want to say I was witnessed drinking one 330ml bottle of beer.”

When Kean took to the stand wearing a smart suit and sipping from a glass of water, he said he was ‘very aware’ of what he was drinking because he knew he had a long drive that night.

He said he did not feel drunk at all after leaving the pub, just full of adrenaline from the game, and ‘thought it was a mistake’ when he tested positive at the roadside.

He said: “I was shocked and surprised. I was happy to go to the police station and speak with officers.”

Police at the custody office said Kean was 'calm, polite and answered all the questions'.

He told the court he hadn't been breathalysed before and indeed, his first attempt back at the station failed because he didn't blow properly.

After he was charged he was given a further test to make sure he was below the legal limit, driven back to his car on the M6 by police and continued his journey down south.

Prosecutor Jonathan Egan asked Kean about the pressure he was under on the day of the match, including the implications of relegation.

Kean replied: “I don’t feel the financial pressure on me, just the performance of the team.

"I don’t think about the numbers. We were never in the relegation zone for even one week."

Mr Egan questioned Kean on why he had told police when stopped that he hadn’t had a drink, suggesting: “There is not some mystery person who spiked your drink, you have actually had more to drink than you have said.”

Kean said he didn’t notice if his drink had been topped up or that it had had any spirits added to it. He then said he didn’t drink whisky or vodka, suggesting he wouldn’t taste the spike.

He said: “The only way I could have been over the limit was if I had been drinking in the car, and I wasn’t.

The court heard a medical report from Dr David Eccles on behalf of the defence.

It explained that with the rate of alcoholic units being broken down between the time the game finished around 2.30pm and when Kean was stopped around 9pm, he would have only registered five microgrammes in breath having drunk what he claimed to have done.

But he gave a breath sample of 11 times that. Dr Eccles concluded that “Either knowingly or unknowingly, Mr Kean consumed more alcohol on the day in question than he has stated.”

Judge Sanders said that Kean’s drink being laced was ‘not a convincing explanation’.

He said: “It is relevant that when he was stopped by the police and asked if he had anything to drink, he replied not and this was clearly untrue.”

Kean’s 18-month driving ban could be reduced by a quarter if he takes a drink-drive course.

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Our reporter Sam Chadderton posted live updates from the court case.