Top footballer banned for drink driving

The 19-year-old crashed his Range Rover into a parked van after he drank “a lot” of alcohol the night before with his family.

The unattended Ford Transit van in Heywood, Greater Manchester, was shunted five metres (16.4ft) into the stone wall of a house in the incident.

No-one was hurt in the collision apart from Tunnicliffe’s front seat passenger, a friend, who suffered minor injuries.

Aside from the damage to the van and the house involved, his Range Rover was written off at a cost of £30,000.

The footballer phoned the police from the scene in Green Lane shortly after 2.15pm on October 13 and officers attended.

A police constable noticed his breath smelt of alcohol. He provided a positive breath test at the scene and then gave a reading of 62mg/100ml, the legal limit being 35mg, at Bury police station.

Tunnicliffe, of Clemshaw Close, Heywood, pleaded guilty to the offence on his first appearance over the matter at Bury Magistrates’ Court.

The court heard both his family and club were “very disappointed” about the incident.

His ban is likely to be reduced by four months after Tunnicliffe indicated he would be interested in attending a drink-drive rehabilitation course.

He was fined £800 and ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs and an £80 victim surcharge.

Tunnicliffe was told to take his hands out of his pockets before the hearing started.

Caroline Patrick, prosecuting, said his vehicle left the road and went on to a footpath before hitting the van which was knocked into the wall and the wooden garden gates of a house.

Chris Proctor, defending, said: “My instructions are that he had consumed alcohol the evening before and unfortunately, in an error of judgment on his part, he thought he would be below the legal limit and he was able to drive.

“Generally he is a very sensible young man. He is a professional footballer and this incident happened in an international break in the calendar.”