Black Stars player Mohammed Kudus was caught by police using his mobile phone while driving his £100,000 Mercedes away from West Ham’s training ground.
Kudus was pulled over and explained that he had been setting up the sat-nav function on his phone at the time of the incident. According to Yahoo News UK, the Metropolitan Police offered him a fixed penalty fine, but when he failed to respond, the case was prosecuted.
At Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court last week, Kudus was found guilty of using a handheld mobile phone while driving. He was fined £220, given six penalty points on his driving licence, and ordered to pay £110 in costs and an £88 victim surcharge.
The case was heard under the Single Justice Procedure, meaning the Black Stars player did not have to attend an open court hearing. Court records show that he did not enter a plea when the case was sentenced privately.
PC James Palmer, who was riding a marked police bike, gave evidence at the court hearing. He explained that at 1:22 pm on April 30, he was on Wood Lane in Romford when he spotted Kudus’ vehicle.
PC Palmer in his statement was quoted as saying:
I was filtering through traffic when I noticed that the driver of this vehicle was using a handheld mobile device while driving. The device was being held in their left hand, in front of themselves. The driver was engaging with the phone, and I could see the screen was illuminated. They made repeated contact with the screen using their left thumb.
More details of encounter
The officer added that Kudus seemed distracted by the phone, which caused a delayed reaction as traffic moved off at the green lights.
PC Palmer, who works in road policing, highlighted that using a mobile phone while driving is one of the “Fatal 4” offences most associated with deaths and serious injuries on the road.
He also pointed out that Kudus confirmed at the roadside that he had been using his phone to set up the sat-nav and noted that Kudus’ car had in-built services such as Apple CarPlay, which could have been used instead.
Source : Pulse.com
