Former England international Raheem Sterling faces a possible prison sentence after pleading guilty to dangerous driving and possession of nitrous oxide. Sterling, 31, was behind the wheel of a Lamborghini, snorting the class C drug from balloons and driving in an “absolutely horrendous” manner, when he left a busy road in Hampshire during the morning rush hour on May 28 this year. Sterling admitted to police he “had a problem” with nitrous oxide after being arrested over the drug-driving crash, a court was told. The former Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool player, a free agent since leaving Dutch club Feyenoord at the end of last season, will be sentenced at a later hearing after pleading guilty on Tuesday to a series of criminal charges. An 80-minute hearing at Basingstoke magistrates’ court saw images of Sterling handcuffed and arrested at the scene of the accident after “multiple reports” from concerned drivers, including one who raised “genuine concerns that (Sterling) was going to kill someone”. Sterling was found in the passenger seat, with two canisters of nitrous oxide in his lap. There were four others in the car, as well as a deflated balloon he had been using to inhale the drug which was criminalized in 2023. In full view of the arresting officers, he could be seen trying to put them in the back seat. “Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, is stored in canisters,” prosecutor Simon Jones told the court. “It has the impact of slowing brain functions and body responses and can cause sensory distortion, including hallucinations…increasing the risk of collisions.” Standing in the glass-paneled dock, Sterling admitted possessing six 670g canisters of nitrous oxide and one count of dangerous driving, in relation to what the prosecution described as a “category 1A offence” – the most serious level in the sentencing guidelines – on two motorways, the M25 and M3, before swerving off the A327 towards a metal gate. Sterling also pleaded guilty to a separate charge of failing to provide a breath sample, as he was arrested shortly after 9 a.m. on the day of the crash. Further tests were carried out which showed “severe impairment” and Sterling is said to have told officers he had a problem with nitrous oxide. District Judge Kirsty Allman adjourned Sterling’s case until November 25 and told him it would be dealt with on an “all options” basis, meaning she could not rule out the possibility that it would end with one of the most successful English footballers of his generation going to prison. Sterling’s defense team will argue that his early guilty plea should count in his favor and that he could be subject to a suspended sentence, meaning he is spared prison unless he reoffends for a set period of time. However, the prosecution’s argument is that Sterling’s offense ticked seven out of ten boxes for aggravating characteristics in relation to dangerous driving cases. These include prolonged time, danger to other people, and persistent use of a prohibited drug. The court was told that the first 999 call from the M25 was made at 7.45am by a motorist, Christopher Jennings, who followed Sterling for 30 minutes at a time in the morning when the motorway, outside London, was so busy that it was traveling at a reduced speed limit of 65km/h. Sterling was seen inhaling from a balloon while “swerving within the lanes, weaving from the far left to the far right and coming so close to the white lines that other vehicles had to brake or move to avoid a crash.” Sterling spent the second half of last season at Feyenoord (Pieter Stam de Jonge / ANP / AFP via Getty Images) Over the next 67 minutes, a further 999 calls were made to alert three different police forces – the Metropolitan (London), Thames Valley and Surrey – that there was a driver out of control and openly inhaling balloons. A motorist, Fiona Jennings, called police at 8.45am on the M3 and described Sterling’s situation. driving as “absolutely horrendous, weaving and recklessly swerving in and out of lanes.” He watched Sterling inhale from a balloon. She described it as so big that at first she thought the airbag had deployed. As the balloon blocked Sterling’s view, other motorists had to stay behind or take emergency action to prevent something more serious from happening, the court was told. Some drivers flashed their hazard signals to warn others as Sterling repeatedly drove into the central reservation, causing rocks and dust to fly into the air. The last call to the police was made at 8.52am and shortly afterwards Sterling lost control of his car, left the road and hit the metal barriers with enough force to burst three of the tires on his £270,000 car. “Stop tensing up,” the officer in the footage tells him, handcuffing his hands behind his back. “I’m getting tense,” Sterling responds. Other evidence made it clear that Sterling had also been driving “erratically” in the early hours of the morning. The first 999 call, the court was told, was actually made at 1.10am, after he was seen entering the McDonald’s drive-thru in Hayes, north London, “at excessive speed” and inhaling a balloon while apparently waiting for his food. Jones, prosecuting, described it as “important context and background” because it showed that, seven hours before the first reports of dangerous driving, there was already “a clear concern of impairment from the use of an implied drug.” Sterling admitted to police that he had snorted the drug at 11 the previous night. Sterling last played for England in 2022 (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images). The winger was taken to Basingstoke police station, where he told officers he “hadn’t slept all night and was tired and confused.” In the midst of a heat wave, with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius, he complained of feeling cold and, to a police officer, appeared “quiet, withdrawn and lethargic,” showing signs of being incapacitated. Sterling’s attorney, Jason Bartfeld KC, said his client was cold because of the air conditioning. Sterling’s appearance in court comes during a difficult period in his professional life that has left him (a footballer who has twice appeared in the top 15 of Ballon d’Or voting) without a club and without a clear future in the sport that has marked his life. Sterling’s 82 appearances for England earned him three World Cups and a place in UEFA’s team of the tournament at Euro 2021. He won four Premier League titles with Manchester City and, in his youth at Liverpool, the Golden Boy award for the best young player in the world. Other awards and trophies followed, including an MBE in the Queen’s 2021 Birthday Honors list for services to racial equality. No details were provided in court about what led Sterling to take nitrous oxide or whether there was a direct link to his deteriorating career. There was also no prolonged mitigation. However, his legal team has provided a file to the judge, which includes a number of references from Sterling’s former football colleagues. Sterling, who has no previous convictions, was given a provisional driving ban and told the matter may still be considered so serious that it will be transferred to Winchester Crown Court, which has greater sentencing powers.
