Watford striker Michail Antonio has received a six-month driving ban after being convicted of failing to identify who was behind the wheel of his Lamborghini Urus during a late-night incident in central London last year.
Uxbridge Magistrates' Court heard that the vehicle, registered to the 36-year-old former West Ham forward, was spotted being driven carelessly on Pall Mall shortly after midnight on November 5 last year. The Metropolitan Police subsequently wrote to Antonio on November 12, requesting the identity of the driver at the time. When no response was received, prosecutors launched a criminal case against him.
Antonio maintained throughout the trial that he was not behind the wheel that night, telling the court he was in Manchester visiting his children between November 3 and 6. He said he had lent the car to Tarique Josephs, who he described as running a business that loans out vehicles including his Lamborghini on occasion.
The player insisted he never received the original police letter requesting the driver's details, suggesting it may have gone missing in the post. His girlfriend, Sunita Bains, who manages correspondence at the couple's £2.2 million Buckinghamshire home, also testified that she did not believe the letter had ever arrived.
According to Antonio's account, he only learned of the prosecution in February, when he was informed he had been formally charged.