England star Steven Caulker banned from driving after refusing to provide breath test

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QPR and England star Steven Caulker

The QPR centre back was handcuffed and arrested after he repeatedly declined to cooperate with police when he was confronted in a car park near Windsor Castle.

Caulker, 25, was driven away from the hearing by his brother who picked up a parking ticket while the 6ft 3ins defender was standing in the dock nearby.

Magistrates in Slough, Berks, heard the £40,000-a-week footballer was found standing beside his Range Rover with the driver’s door open and the engine running shortly after midnight on March 12.

Dressed in a fitted dark grey suit and white shirt, unbuttoned at the collar, the player heard how he was captured driving the vehicle on CCTV.

Prosecutor Tina Flannery said: “He was parked after trying to leave the car park by the barrier. He was given three opportunities to provide a breath sample but he was arrested and taken to Maidenhead Police Station. He was asked again to provide a sample but refused.”

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He was fined £12,500 and banned from driving for 18 months for refusing to provide a breath test

Caulker, of Richmond, Surrey, admitted failing to provide a sample at a previous hearing.

He is not proud of his behaviour

Rachel Kabila

He was also ordered to pay a £175 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.

Caulker – who had a spell on-loan at Liverpool last season and started his career at Tottenham Hotspur – was told his sentence will be shortened to 14 months once he has completed a driving awareness course.

The father-of-one’s lawyer Rachel Kabila told magistrates the ban will put a significant strain on his family life.

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Caulker, of Richmond, Surrey, admitted failing to provide a sample at a previous hearing

She said: “He drives to training every day but he can of course get taxis. The real inconvenience is he will not be able to see his young son who lives with his mother in Somerset.

“The reality is that she probably won’t be able to see him as often and perhaps that is the punishment of this.”

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Ms Kabila added: “He is a professional footballer at Queens Park Rangers and as a professional, accepts the consequences of not complying as he should have done.

“He has had time to reflect on that and accepts that it was not the right thing to do. He is not proud of his behaviour.”

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He repeatedly declined to cooperate with police when he was confronted near Windsor Castle

It is not the first time Caulker has been in trouble with the law.

Last month he was fined £750 after he admitted drunkenly hurling objects at train passengers at Clapham Junction station.

Caulker, who scored on his only appearance for the Three Lions during a 4-2 defeat to Sweden in a friendly match in 2012 – has been out of action after picking up a hip injury in late October.