Speeding Kean says drink was spiked

BLACKBURN manager Steve Kean pleaded guilty to drink-driving yesterday but claimed his drink was spiked.

The 43-year-old was charged with being almost twice the legal limit when he failed a breath test just hours after his side played Manchester United in the Barclays Premier League last May.

Kean changed his plea to guilty of driving with excess alcohol shortly before his trial was due to begin at Macclesfield Magistrates’ Court in Cheshire yesterday.

His solicitor immediately made a “special reasons” application to District Judge Nicholas Sanders which seeks to exempt Kean from a driving ban because he claims he unknowingly broke the law.

Kean was breathalysed after his Mercedes was pulled over by police on the south-bound carriageway of the M6 near Knutsford, Cheshire, on May 14. The prosecution say he sped past a police patrol car at 90mph.

The officers, who were driving at 50mph, pulled him over and gave him a breath test which recorded 65 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms.

The former Fulham, Coventry and Real Sociedad coach was appointed caretaker manager at Blackburn last December following the sacking of Sam Allardyce before being given the role permanently.

The team embarked on this season’s Premier League campaign with a 2-1 home defeat by Wolves on Saturday.