Wayne Rooney admits to drink driving charges and receives sentence

Earlier today, Everton forward Wayne Rooney appeared in the Stockport Magistrate’s Court, where he admitted the drink driving charges from September 1. Rooney has been banned from driving for two years, and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service within the next 12 months.

According to the BBC, the husband and father of four was three times the legal limit for alcohol when he was pulled over by police around 2:00 AM that morning.

Rooney is expected to receive a fine from Everton in the amount of £300,000, which comes to around two weeks worth of wages.

For his part, the English forward issued the following apology:

Following today’s court hearing I want publicly to apologise for my unforgiveable lack of judgement in driving while over the legal limit. It was completely wrong.

I have already said sorry to my family, my manager and chairman and everyone at Everton FC. Now I want to apologise to all the fans and everyone else who has followed and supported me throughout my career.

Of course I accept the sentence of the court and hope that I can make some amends through my community service.

Per reports, Rooney had requested a large fine from the court rather than community service. However, the judge rejected that request.

Judge John Temperley did go on to acknowledge Rooney’s genuine remorse.

This is a serious matter... you placed yourself and other road users at risk as a result of your poor judgement that night.

I accept your remorse is genuine and that you are aware of the adverse affects the events of that night have had, not least on your family.

As Everton fans, we can hope that this wraps up a truly unfortunate and disappointing situation. Ideally, Rooney will learn from yet another mistake in his personal life, and a renewed effort by him with his family and personal health will lead to increased focus on the field.