Katie Price found GUILTY of being drunk in charge of £75k Range Rover
Tough day for Katie…
Katie Price has been found guilty of being drunk while in charge of a car, a court ruled earlier today.
The mum-of-five appeared at Bexley Magistrates’ Court in Kent to receive the verdict and must now pay a hefty fine.
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Katie was given the choice of a three-month driving ban, or 10 points on her license, which has been added to another ban from earlier this year for driving while disqualified.
Along with a £1,500 fine, she was also ordered to pay costs and a victim surcharge to bring her total bill to £2,425.
After the verdict, Katie shared a video on her Instagram of her speaking to journalists outside the court.
She said: ‘I just want the truth to be known. I was never drink-driving despite everyone saying.
‘It got proven today there was no evidence at all of me drink-drivin, I was never drink-driving so I rest my case on that.
‘But yes I was convicted because I had the keys and I was in the car and in charge of the car.
‘So I was given a choice of having 10 points on my license or to be disqualified for three months.’
She did not reveal which choice she made though.
Katie was found ‘very drunk’ by police in the backseat of her £75,000 pink Range Rover last year, although she has denied that she was driving the car at the time it apparently crashed into a hedge.
The 40-year-old was cleared of the more serious charge of drink-driving by the judge, who said there was no evidence to suggest she’d been driving her ‘vomit-covered’ car before it was found ‘damaged’ by the side of the road.
PC Benjamin Jones, who was at the scene, told the court: ‘Her eyes were blood shot and her speech was a bit slurred. Although she was sitting, it was in a slumped position.
‘I could smell alcohol. In my opinion she was drunk.’
He clarified she seemed ‘very’ drunk, adding: ‘I also noticed what appeared to be sick on the outside of the car.’
The court heard that a ‘mystery man’ had been behind the wheel at the time of the incident while Katie’s boyfriend Kris Boyson occupied the front passenger seat.
However, after an argument the mystery friend pulled over and ran away with the car keys, according to Katie.
But police later claimed that Katie had complained of being cold while waiting when the heater allegedly started up in the car.
Prosecutor Sonya Saul said ‘this was a function that could only be done with the car keys.’
While Judge Nigel Dean cleared Katie of driving dunk, he found her guilty of being drunk in charge of a motor vehicle, saying he didn’t find her a ‘credible witness.’
He said: ‘She knows a lot more about the circumstances that her valuable car was involved in some sort of road traffic accident than she would have the court believe.
‘I did not find her to be a plausible or credible witness.’
Katie also claimed in court today that her relationship with Kris is now ‘on the rocks’ because he refuses to name his mystery friend who was allegedly driving.
‘He hasn’t even come to support me – he is not helping me at all,’ she said.
CelebsNow has contacted a spokesperson for Katie for comment.
