Elmbridge Today
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Frank Lampard's bodyguard handed driving ban for speeding
26 Jul 2011
Steven Sango - the bodyguard of Chelsea and England footballer Frank Lampard - has been banned from driving for five weeks after being caught speeding at more than 100mph on the A3 in Surrey.
The bodyguard of Chelsea and England footballer Frank Lampard was banned from driving for five weeks yesterday (Monday) after he was caught speeding at more than 100mph.
Staines Magistrates’ Court heard how Steven Sango's BMW 7-series was clocked at 103mph in a 70mph zone on the A3 in Surrey last September on his way to collect the Chelsea midfielder from the club's training ground.
Sango initially denied speeding and challenged the reliability of the LTI 20-20 Ultralyte device used to capture the offence.
Faced with the prospect of an expert report from Road Safety Support - the "trade body" for road safety and safety camera partnerships across the country - Sango subsequently changed his plea to guilty but claimed there were special reasons for the offence.
At first he said it was because he was being chased by the paparazzi in a Range Rover, but he later withdrew this claim after no evidence was found on the offence video.
Sango then told the court that he had been speeding because he thought he was simply being followed by a Range Rover.
The 57-year-old claimed that he had been trained to speed up in such situations to test the vehicle pursuing him.
Road Safety Support's Andrew Perry, prosecuting, said that whatever the reason, Sango had no excuse to exceed the speed limit.
He said he had an opportunity to leave the road at the next junction to see if the Range Rover was following him.
The court rejected Sango's story and he was disqualified from driving for 35 days, despite his claims that he would lose his job.
The bodyguard, of Sunbury Lane, Walton, was also fined £750 and ordered to pay costs of £620.