Marvin Ducksch fined £16,155 and banned 14 months after crash

marvin ducksch was fined £16,155 and banned from driving for 14 months after a three-car crash on the A3400 near Henley-in-Arden. The Birmingham City forward pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol after the 6 April collision. He had been stopped at 53mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, above the 35mcg legal limit.

Leamington Spa Magistrates' Court

Leamington Spa Magistrates' Court also ordered Ducksch to pay £2,000 compensation, a £2,000 surcharge and £85 in costs. The 32-year-old had appeared as a substitute in Birmingham's 2-1 defeat to Ipswich Town at Portman Road just hours before the crash.

Chairman of the bench John Kiely told him: "You can consider yourself lucky first of all that you weren't killed and secondly that the other drivers weren't killed." That warning came after Ducksch had already admitted the alcohol offence and after the court heard he was driving home when he clipped another car.

A3400 near Henley-in-Arden

Ducksch told police in a prepared statement that he had "he did have alcohol before he drove" and that he had "clipped an oncoming car and another one following behind". He stopped at the scene and checked on the other motorists, while one female driver suffered a nosebleed and injuries to her forehead and thumb.

Julia Morgan, his defence solicitor, said: "Mr Ducksch waited at the scene for the police." She added: "They didn't arrive immediately but he waited and he checked on the welfare of the occupants of the other vehicles." Ducksch lives in Solihull and Birmingham signed him from Werder Bremen last summer.

Ducksch and Birmingham City

The court penalty leaves Ducksch facing a lengthy spell without a driving licence while Birmingham move on without one of their summer signings being able to drive. For a player who arrived from Werder Bremen and has also represented Borussia Dortmund, the case now sits alongside the crash itself: a night in Warwickshire, a guilty plea, and a sentence that included compensation for the people caught up in the collision.