Raheem Sterling Pleads Guilty to Dangerous Driving Charges

Raheem Sterling has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving after crashing a Lamborghini on a series of major roads in the south of England.

The 31-year-old forward admitted at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday to driving a Lamborghini Urus dangerously on the M25, the M3, the A327 and Minley Road before a collision on May 28.

He also admitted possessing six nitrous oxide cannisters for wrongful inhalation – a class C drug – and failing to provide a specimen when required.

Sterling arrived at the Hampshire court dressed in a black suit jacket, black trousers, black shoes and a dark top, cutting a very different figure from the one fans remember gliding down the wing for England.

Police had previously confirmed the charges followed a single-vehicle crash on the M3 southbound, near the Minley interchange, on May 28. No other cars were involved and no injuries were reported.

The case marks a stark off-field chapter in the career of a player who has been one of England’s most prominent footballers of the past decade.

Sterling scored 20 goals in 82 appearances for his country, a key part of Gareth Southgate’s side that reached the 2018 World Cup semi-finals and the final of Euro 2020. His surging runs and decisive goals helped define that era of the national team.

Raised in the QPR academy before a breakthrough at Liverpool, Sterling moved to Manchester City in 2015 and became a central figure in one of English football’s dominant sides. At City he collected four Premier League titles, five League Cups and the 2019 FA Cup, embedding himself in the club’s modern history.

His move to Chelsea in 2022 was supposed to refresh his career at the top level, but his influence faded and he spent the 2024-25 season on loan at Arsenal. A short-term switch to Feyenoord followed until the end of last season. He is currently without a club.

Off the pitch, Sterling has been widely recognised for his stance on racism and discrimination. In the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours he was awarded an MBE for services to racial equality in sport, having fronted anti-racism campaigns and spoken powerfully about abuse in football and wider society.

Now, as he waits for sentencing and weighs up his next move in football, the contrast between his decorated international career and a guilty plea in a magistrates’ court could hardly be sharper.