Footballer’s move no bar to speed fine

The 30-year-old South Africa international was previously found guilty in his absence of failing to disclose who was driving his Aston Martin DBS after it was twice caught speeding last October.

Yesterday at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court, those convictions were withdrawn and he instead admitted two counts of speeding after saying he had not been aware of the earlier allegations.

As he appeared in a secure dock, he laughed as the court clerk told magistrates: “Apparently he’s a footballer. I’m not a football fan.”

His lawyer, Gwynn Lewis, said Pienaar had missed the hearing after moving from his previous address in Epping, Essex, to Liverpool, when he was loaned back to former club Everton by Tottenham in January.

Mr Lewis said: “He has treated the court with the utmost respect and has come immediately to court to deal with it. He wasn’t aware of the previous court hearing – the first he heard of it was when he read press reports and he then handed himself in to police in Warrington straight away.”

Pienaar had not realised he needed to transfer the registration of his car to his new address, he added.

Pienaar paid the fine of £1,000 plus £175 in legal costs and a victim surcharge before leaving court.