Newcastle United star Hatem Ben Arfa banned from driving for speeding past police at 110mph
The French international was clocked at 110 mph in his Mercedes on a 70 mph stretch of a bypass on the outskirts of Newcastle
Banned: Newcastle United's Hatem Ben Arfa
Newcastle United player Hatem Ben Arfa was disqualified from driving today after pleading guilty to driving offences.The Frenchman was slapped with the 49-day driving ban and a £5,100 fine for racing at speeds of 110.2mph in a 70mph zone without insurance on his Mercedes.Newcastle Magistrates Court heard that the 26-year-old sped past a police car on the A696 Wolsington Bypass dual carriageway in Newcastle on Sept 6 last year.After being pulled over he was found to have no insurance.He pleaded guilty to driving without insurance and one count of speeding via an interpreter.The prosecuting solicitor said: “Just after 3.30 in the afternoon on September 6 a vehicle driven by Mr Ben Arfa overtook a police car.“The officer followed the vehicle and checked Mr Ben Arfa’s speed as 110.2mph over the distance of just over nine tenths of a mile.“It turned out that Ben Arfa was not insured to drive this vehicle.”