Former Chelsea star N’Golo Kante is being prosecuted using the controversial fast-track justice system over a driving offence, despite telling police he was out of the country at the time.
The World Cup-winning French midfielder has been charged with a criminal offence after a member of the public spotted someone using a phone while driving his Mercedes. Kante, 33, insisted in an email to the Metropolitan Police that he was not in the UK on the day of the offence last October.
He left Stamford Bridge last summer to join Saudi Arabian team Al-Ittihad in a reported £86 million-a-year deal. Kante gave the name and address of the person he says was driving the car that day, but he is now being prosecuted for allegedly not putting those details onto an official form.
Bizarrely, the Met continued to send letters to Kante about the legal dispute — and the criminal charge he now faces — to Chelsea’s training ground near Cobham, Surrey, even though the midfielder doesn’t play for the club.
The criminal case has been brought using the Single Justice Procedure, which enables cases to take place behind closed doors. Kante’s case is expected to be looked at by a magistrate at a private hearing tomorrow. In court papers obtained by the Evening Standard, Linda Humphrey, of the Met Police staff, set out how a member of the public, Ivo Lazarov, reported the Mercedes over suspected phone use while driving at 8.32am on October 18 in Strawberry Vale, Richmond.
Two days after the incident, Kante turned out for Al-Ittihad in a 1-1 draw in Jeddah. In her witness statement, Ms Humphrey said Kante was sent a digital version of the form he had to fill in, and a “final reminder” was sent to his email address as well as to the Chelsea training ground. “No completed response has been received from N’Golo Kante,” she said.
A court official said no plea has been entered by Kante to the charge of “failing to give information relating to the identification of the driver of a vehicle when required”. He faces a possible six points on his UK driving licence.
Last month, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said he was considering reforms to the Single Justice Procedure after a series of Standard stories highlighting injustices. A representative for Kante has been contacted for comment.
