FORMER England footballer Raheem Sterling has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving after crashing a Lamborghini into a metal gate in Hampshire in May.
Sterling, 31, from Berkshire, appeared at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court, where he also admitted possessing nitrous oxide for wrongful inhalation and failing to provide a specimen for analysis, media reports said.
The former England winger admitted driving a Lamborghini Urus dangerously on the M25, the M3, the A327 and Minley Road on the morning of May 28 before he crashed.
The court heard he strayed into the central reservation of the M3, exited at junction 4A, and veered off the A327, crashing into a metal gate and "roadside infrastructure" in a layby near the Minley interchange.
He had six canisters of nitrous oxide, a Class C drug.
Prosecutor Simon Jones told the court that police received several calls about dangerous driving on the two motorways between 7.45 and 8.52 BST.
When police arrived at the scene of the collision, Sterling was in the passenger seat of the car with two nitrous oxide canisters on his lap.
'Absolutely horrendous driving'
Witnesses described seeing a Lamborghini driver inhaling from a white balloon. Fiona Jennings, who saw the vehicle on the M3 at 8.45, said she looked across and thought an airbag had inflated, before realising it was an inflated balloon. She told police she saw "absolutely horrendous driving" as the Lamborghini swerved in and out of lanes.
Jones told the court that after leaving the motorway, the Lamborghini had struck a sign or a gate at the side of the road, causing extensive damage. In a police statement, Sterling said he had not slept all night.
Sterling complied with a roadside breath test, which was negative, and a preliminary drug test, which indicated no cannabis or cocaine. However, tests carried out at the Basingstoke police investigation centre deemed that he was impaired. A sample of blood could only be taken with his consent, which he did not give.
Hampshire Police said the charges followed a single-vehicle collision near the M3 southbound, close to the Minley interchange, and confirmed no other vehicles were involved and no injuries were reported.
Jones said the incident fell into the most serious category of dangerous driving, which attracted a jail term of one to two years.
Sterling's lawyer, Jason Bartfeld, said the car had only suffered superficial damage and four blown tyres, and there was "clearly personal mitigation", but he did not elaborate.
Judge Kirsty Allman said the case would be adjourned for a pre-sentence report, with Sterling due to return for another hearing on November 25. He was disqualified from driving and released on unconditional bail.
Sterling has 82 England caps, the last of which was won at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He most recently played for Feyenoord in the Dutch Eredivisie, making eight appearances after leaving Chelsea by mutual consent in January. He has been without a club since the end of last season.
In four years at Chelsea, including a season-long loan at Arsenal, he made 59 league appearances after signing from Manchester City in 2022. With City, he won four Premier League titles, having started his senior career at Liverpool before moving to Manchester in 2015.
In the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours, Sterling was made an MBE for services to racial equality in sport.
