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'I can't afford a chauffeur' claims £10k-per-week Premiership footballer as he tries to dodge driving ban.
By Rob Cooper - Last updated at 11:17 AM on 20th October 2011

High earner: Danny Simpson is pictured getting into his white Audi R8 in Manchester city centre earlier this year
A Premier League footballer facing a driving ban told magistrates he could not afford a chauffeur - despite earning a reported £10,000 per week.
Newcastle United defender Danny Simpson was expected to have his licence taken away after being caught doing 48mph in a 30mph zone.

The 24-year-old defender already had nine points in his licence but pleaded that a ban would cause him 'exceptional hardship'.
Despite being given a further four points he did not have his licence taken away immediately under the 'totting up' procedure because his lawyer announced that he would be appealing.

Pleading for leniency, the footballer told Newcastle Magistrates' Court yesterday he could be sold by his club and that fears for his baby daughter's health had caused tension between him and his girlfriend Stephanie.
Standing in the dock he revealed how his daughter Skye has just been released from intensive care after being born three months premature.
He said the baby suffers from a bowel disorder which requires regular medical attention - meaning he has to make emergency dashes to hospital.
He told the court: 'It's been tough for both of us. Our baby girl came out of hospital a few weeks ago but then she caught a virus and had to go back in.

'She came out on Friday but we have to take her to hospital at least twice a week.
'She's still only seven and a half pounds and has problems feeding.'
He added: 'She has problems feeding. My partner can't just get up in the morning and feed her and take me to training.
'With everything going on we have been arguing a lot, there's things we need to work on but it's not about us. It's about our little girl.'
'Exceptional hardship': Danny Simpson, pictured here in action for Newcastle, told the court he could not afford a chauffeur. He earns a reported £10,000 per week

When asked by prosecutor Fiona Varley if he could not hire a chauffeur if he lost his licence, Simpson replied: 'I don't see a chauffeur as an option because they cost a lot of money.
'I'd have to rely on teammates and taxis. I earn less money than most Premiership players although I am on good money.'
Simpson's barrister Michael Conlon later put it to him that he's no Wayne Rooney in terms of his salary.
He replied: 'No I'm not. The money I've got I want to invest for the future'.

He was caught by a speed camera doing 48mph in a 30mph zone in his Audi near the club's training ground on April 13 this year.
The right-back, from Ponteland, Newcastle, admitted the charge, but claimed 'exceptional hardship'.
The court heard the footballer has nine points on his licence including an offence of speeding in May 2008.
Magistrates gave him four points for the speeding offence - giving him 13 in total.
Drivers with 12 points usually lose their licence - unless they can show 'exceptional hardship'.
Simpson was also ordered to pay a fine of £333, prosecution costs of £30 and a victim surcharge of £15.
He was given a six-month driving ban which was suspended pending an appeal to the crown court.

The hardship plea seems to be mainly based on his inability to drive the child to hopital in case of emergency, that is possibly very real. If it was my child (or anybody else for that matter) and I genuinely thought it a life or death situation, I'd drive and take the consequences, no question about it. Perhaps there needs to be room in the crime and punishment laws to say, depending on the case, allow a banned driver to drive in a life or death situation without further consequences??