“The fact that you are well known”: When Andrew Flintoff was fined £330 but not banned from driving for overspeesing because of his charity works

English all-rounder Andrew Flintoff was one of the best all-rounders to play the game for England. Ashes 2005 was one of the most competitive series in cricketing history, and Flintoff played a crucial role in his side’s success. He struggled with injuries throughout his career, but his impact on the game was huge.

Flintoff was an aggressive cricketer on the field, and Steven Harmison once revealed that he came running out of the toilet just to abuse Indian captain Sourav Ganguly. Flintoff even waved his shirt after winning a game against India at the Wankhede Stadium, and Ganguly’s famous shirt wave at The Lord’s was a reply to that only.

After winning the Ashes in 2005, Flintoff created a nuisance at the Prime Minister’s residence where he was drunk. Flintoff even lost his vice-captaincy spot and was banned for a match during the 2007 World Cup in West Indies.

Andrew Flintoff was fined £330 but not banned from driving

In 2014, Andrew Flintoff put himself in trouble when he was caught overspeeding his Bentley. Flintoff was caught driving at 87mph near Linstock in Cumbria. He was already on 9 points for overspeeding and one more offense would have resulted in Flintoff getting banned from driving. However, Flintoff was not banned from driving because of his charity work.

Flintoff was quite frequent in his charity work, and he gave an appeal in the court that banning him from driving would result inloss of a lot of charity for children. Flintoff’s solicitor Michael Neofytou told the court that it will hamper Flintoff’s TV work as well and will intrude on the privacy of his children.

Flintoff was £330 but was not banned from driving, but the court gave him a warning that he would not be able to use the same excuse for the next three years.

“Because of your position, the fact that you are well known, clearly the impact has to be on others, more than you yourself,” David Johnson, chair of the bench said in his judgement.