Raheem Sterling Pleads Guilty to Dangerous Driving

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 appeared in the Hampshire courtroom dressed in a black suit jacket, black trousers, black shoes and a dark top, cutting a markedly different figure from the one fans remember in England colours.

Police from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said the charges followed a single-vehicle crash on the M3 southbound near the Minley interchange on May 28. No other vehicles were involved and no injuries were reported.

It is a stark turn in the story of a player who became one of the defining figures of Gareth Southgate’s England. Sterling scored 20 goals in 82 appearances for his country, central to the run to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals and the final of Euro 2020.

His club journey has been just as high profile. Raised in the academy at QPR, he broke through at Liverpool, making his senior debut as one of the Premier League’s brightest young talents. A 2015 move to Manchester City turned him into a serial winner: four Premier League titles, five League Cups and the 2019 FA Cup followed.

The trajectory has dipped more recently. Sterling left City for Chelsea in 2022 but slipped down the pecking order and spent the 2024-25 season on loan at Arsenal. He then joined Dutch side Feyenoord on a short-term deal until the end of last season and is currently without a club.

Away from the pitch, he became a prominent voice against racism in football and wider society. In the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours he was awarded an MBE for services to racial equality in sport, recognition for years of fronting anti-racism and anti-discrimination campaigns and speaking out forcefully on abuse faced by Black players.

Now, with his playing future uncertain and a court case on his record, one of England’s most recognisable modern internationals faces a very different kind of crossroads.