Evening Standard

Chisora banned over 80mph late-night drive after training

- Tristan Kirk Courts Reporter

BOXER Dereck Chisora has been banned from driving for eight weeks after being caught speeding on his way home from a training session.

The former British, European, and Commonweal­th heavyweigh­t champion was clocked doing 80mph in a 50mph zone at 4.10am on the A40.

Willesden magistrate­s’ court heard that Chisora, nicknamed Del Boy, likes to train late at night to work out alone and build his stamina.

He was driving from Windsor to his home in Finchley on May 30 last year when his Mercedes-Benz was recorded speeding near RAF Northolt.

“Mr Chisora is a profession­al boxer and he likes to train privately in Windsor,” Barry Warburton, his solicitor told the court.

Explaining why the boxer, 33, was on the road in the middle of the night, he said: “He likes to train very early in the morning because if he does it this way, he finds it builds up his stamina — an extra benefit to simply getting fit.”

Mr Warburton added: “Photograph­s of the road show there was absolutely no one else there whatsoever.”

Chisora was convicted of speeding in his absence earlier this month and was brought to court yesterday for magistrate­s to consider a driving ban. He already has seven points on his licence from a conviction in April 2014 for driving without any insurance.

After hearing representa­tions from Mr Warburton, magistrate­s opted against giving Chisora six points on his licence and an automatic ban for six months.

He was instead banned from the road for 56 days and will keep the existing seven points on his licence. Chisora was also told to pay a £660 fine and costs and fees of £151.

Chisora, who was defeated by Dillian Whyte, 28, in his British title shot at Manchester Arena in December, grinned as he left court and was picked up in a blacked-out chauffeur-driven Mercedes.

Chisora’s appearance was the second time in two weeks the boxer’s driving has been scrutinise­d in court, following a case about him being stopped near Hyde Park at the wheel of a Bentley Continenta­l with no insurance or MoT in November 2015.

Chisora was initially fined and given a driving ban, but the conviction was overturned on appeal at Croydon crown court on January 20 because he believed his broker had arranged the paperwork for the car.

 ??  ?? Stuck: Dereck Chisora tweeted from his Bentley on the M25 after being caught in a traffic jam
Stuck: Dereck Chisora tweeted from his Bentley on the M25 after being caught in a traffic jam

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