Raheem Sterling Court Appearance for Dangerous Driving Charges

Raheem Sterling will appear in court next month to answer charges of dangerous driving and possession of nitrous oxide for wrongful inhalation after crashing his car into motorway barriers in May.

The 31-year-old, capped 82 times by England and most recently on the books at Feyenoord, crashed his Lamborghini on the southbound M3 near the Minley Interchange in Hampshire on the morning of Thursday, 28 May 2026. No other vehicles were involved. No injuries were reported.

Police arrested Sterling at the scene and later released him on bail while they continued their investigation.

In a statement, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary confirmed the case is now heading to court.

“A driver will appear in court next month to face charges following a collision on the M3,” a spokesman said. “Raheem Sterling, 31, from Berkshire, has been charged for the following offences: dangerous driving, possession of nitrous oxide for wrongful inhalation, failing to provide a specimen.

“The charges come following a single vehicle collision, involving a Lamborghini, on the M3 southbound, close to the Minley Interchange [Hampshire], on 28 May, 2026. No other vehicles were involved and no injuries were reported. Mr Sterling is due to appear at Basingstoke magistrates court on 15 September.”

Officers had initially suspected Sterling of “driving a vehicle whilst unfit through drugs”, but that allegation does not feature among the charges he now faces.

Back in May, a source close to Sterling told BBC Sport there was “no proof” of drugs in his system. The same source said the forward had endured “an extremely tough couple of years” and had been made to “feel worthless” and “forgotten about”.

It marks another stark turn in a career that once placed Sterling at the heart of English football’s elite.

Out of contract since leaving Feyenoord at the end of last season, he has been without a club all summer. The Dutch side had taken him on a short-term deal in February after he left Chelsea by mutual consent, a move that was supposed to relaunch his career.

Chelsea had paid £47.5m to sign Sterling from Manchester City in 2022, luring him from a side where he collected four Premier League titles, five League Cups and one FA Cup in seven years. Before that, he had broken through at Liverpool and become one of the Premier League’s most dangerous wide forwards.

His trajectory began to twist in 2024. Sterling joined Arsenal on loan from Chelsea, but when he returned to Stamford Bridge in 2025 he found the door closed. He was exiled from the first-team squad and made to train separately, a brutal comedown for a player who had appeared at three World Cups and two European Championships for England between 2012 and 2022.

Now, instead of chasing another major honour or a final big contract, Sterling is preparing for a date at Basingstoke magistrates court on 15 September — and a very different kind of fight for his future.