Chris Tarrant pleads GUILTY to drink driving

Chris Tarrant

by Emma Dodds |
Updated on

TV presenter Chris Tarrant has been handed a 12-month driving ban and a £6,000 fine after pleading guilty to drink driving

The former Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? presenter pleaded guilty today at Reading Magistrates' Court after being caught by police just before Christmas.

Tarrant, 71, was found to have 50mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath on 16 December 2017 - 15mcg over the legal limit.

GALLERY: 11 celebrity women guilty of finding love with lawbreakers

Gallery

11 celebrity women guilty of finding love with lawbreakers (Slider)

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CREDIT: instagram

Ferne McCann and Arthur Collins

Ferne might be one of our TOWIE favourites, but the gorgeous Essex girl has been very unlucky in love. Her relationship with Charlie Sims played out spectacularly while she was on TOWIE, and during her time on Celebs Go Dating she never met anyone who she was interested in.However, just days after publically talking about her plans to marry her now-boyfriend Arthur Collins, the police have issued an appeal to find him in connection to an acid attack at a club in London over the bank holiday weekend.

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CREDIT: instagram

Gemma Collins and Stephen Mortimer

Gemma and Stephen had an on-and-off relationship. He spent two years in prison for grievous bodily harm, and during Gemma's stint in Celebrity Big Brother in 2016, he was back in prison for allegedly breaching his license terms.When she left the house, she also had to face rumours that he had cheated on her numerous times.

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CREDIT: getty

Kerry Katona and George Kay

Kerry and George have had a tumultuous relationship, and although they called it quits in 2015, the couple decided to rekindle their relationship in August 2016.However, during the time of their marriage breakdown George was allegedly detained for assault and unlawful possession of a taser. He also previously served a three-year prison sentence for blackmail.

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CREDIT: getty

Mel B and Stephen Belafonte

Earlier this year, Mel B filed for divorce from her husband of ten years, Stephen Belafonte. The couple share 5-year-old daughter, Madison, but in the leaked papers Mel cites irreconcilable differences as grounds for divorce.Since then, it has come to light that Mel made many allegations against the film producer, including that he was reportedly physically and verbally abusive throughout their marriage.

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CREDIT: twitter

Lauren Goodger and Joey Morrison

Lauren has received a lot of bad press about the men she has dated. When she first appeared on TOWIE, she had been dating Mark Wright for the best part of eight years before they went their separate ways.Lauren then went on to date Jake McLean for four years, but now she is seeing Joey Morrison. He's a friend of a friend who is currently serving time in prison for violent drugs-related charges, and he is expected to be released later this year.

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CREDIT: instagram

Steph Davis and Jeremy McConnell

Steph and Jeremy had an on-off relationship for the best part of 2016 after meeting in the Celebrity Big Brother house.When Steph announced she was pregnant, Jeremy refused to believe he was the father and throughout the pregnancy she was determined to raise her baby on her own.However, when Caben-Albi was born Jeremy stepped up and appeared to be trying to make up for lost time. The couple reunited, but shortly afterwards reports swirled that Jeremy had been arrested on suspicion of assault.Before the news broke, Steph had shared a picture of her bruised body on Snapchat, prompting fans to believe she may have been the victim. Jeremy denied any wrongdoing and is now in rehab dealing with his demons. Steph has confirmed she'll be there for him when he gets out.

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CREDIT: twitter

Daniella Westbrook and Tom Richards

Daniella and Tom dated cage fighter Tom Richards, and they even got engaged before the relationship broke down in 2015.Following their break-up, Daniella claimed that Tom had violently attacked her although the charges were eventually dropped.

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CREDIT: tv

Chantelle Houghton and Alex Reid

Chantelle was engaged to Katie Price's ex, Alex Reid, and the former couple share 4-year-old daughter, Dolly.But just weeks after Chantelle gave birth, cage fighter Alex was arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage to the couple's Brentwood home and the pair split shortly after.

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CREDIT: getty

Katie Price and Leandro Penna

Katie and Leandro met at an Oscars party in 2011 and started dating soon after, even getting engaged for six months before the relationship ended.Although he appeared to have a squeaky clean image, in 2013 Leandro was accused of assault after a disagreement at a party in London hinting that Katie's ex was more of a bad boy than anyone initially thought.

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CREDIT: instagram

Amy Childs and Bradley Wright

Amy is expecting her first child with boyfriend, Bradley Wright. He already has a daughter from a previous relationship, but Amy has been with him for two years now.Bradley has previously spent time in prison serving sentences for burglary, handling stolen goods and driving offences.

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CREDIT: twitter

Cara Kilby and Daniel Harris

Cara Kilby only had a brief stint on TOWIE, but she was a firm favourite with viewers.Her boyfriend, Daniel, was sentenced to two years in prison after being accussed of leading a gang that sold drugs across London. He is due for release in the next few weeks.

He stopped off at the Bladbone Inn at around 12pm, drank up to four glasses of brandy and port before driving two miles to his home just after 2pm.

Police then went to his house after fellow pubgoers tipped them off.

Hasrat Ali, prosecuting, said: "Staff and other people present inside the pub were concerned that he decided to drive home.

"One member of the public there had noticed that Tarrant had stumbled near the bar area.

"Witnesses spoke to each other and as a result one member of the public phoned the police to report a drink driver."

Mr Ali then said that Tarrant had claimed he'd drank three glasses of wine just before the police had arrived at his house around 2.25pm.

Chris Tarrant
©SWNS

Mr Ali said: "He was interviewed about the offence and he gave a different version of events in the sense that it was not three glasses of wine that he had drunk, but that he had a large glass of brandy and a glass of wine rather than the three glasses of wine he had initially said."

Simon Ray, mitigating, said: "Clearly, he made a regrettable miscalculation and drove the short distance from the public house to his home."

Tarrant himself then said: "I am very sorry, I made a mistake and I paid for it. I should not have done it full stop.

"I drank just enough to be over, honestly did not think I was over the limit."

He will now have to complete a drink driving rehabilitation course if he wants to drive before 18 October, and must also pay £85 prosecution costs and a victim surcharge of £180.

WATCH: Laura Simpson sets the record straight about her night with Wayne Rooney after he was caught drink driving

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