[Archived] News Article -> Steve Kean Faces Drink Driving Trial

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Blackburn Rovers manager Steve Kean is in court today to face a drink driving trial. Kean was stopped on May 14th in Cheshire at around 8.50pm. It is alleged that Kean registered 65 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath at a roadside test. The legal limit is 35.

At a court hearing in June, Kean pleaded not guilty to drink driving and his legal team suggested that someone may have spiked his drink. Kean is being represented by Freemans Solicitors. Its director Nick Freeman, who has represented many high-profile celebrities and sports stars, has become known as "Mr Loophole" due to the number of times he has got clients' cases dismissed due to legal loopholes. Freeman even managed to get Sir Alex Ferguson off a charge of driving on the motorway hard shoulder by claiming that the Manchester United manager had a very bad case of diarrhoea!

Kean faces today's one-day trial at Macclesfield Magistrates Court. If Kean is found guilty, it is very unlikely that he will face a custodial sentence, but he would receive a fine and a driving ban. It will be interesting to see how Rovers' owners react to any guilty verdict. They always try to portray a family-friendly image in their businesses in India, promoting family values, so the manager of their football team being found guilty of drink driving and having a criminal record may not sit well with them. Up until now, Venky's have not commented on Steve Kean's drink driving charges.

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