A FORMER Premier League star mounted the pavement and ploughed into a Co-op while three times over the drink-drive limit.
Ex-Sunderland striker Danny Graham was driving his Land Rover through the exclusive Wynyard Estate in County Durham when the horror unfolded.
Graham, 37, mounted the kerb before smashing the flash motor into the village Co-op store.
Shocking pictures showed the 4×4 wedged in the front of the shop, which suffered substantial damage.
Graham, who also had stints at Middlesbrough, Watford, Swansea and Blackburn Rovers, today admitted drink-driving.
He has now been banned from driving for two years and given a 12-month community order in which he must carry out 180 hours unpaid work.
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Graham was also handed a 90-day alcohol ban, which will be monitored by a tag that can detect even a “small glass of sherry”.
Chairman of the bench Nigel Guerin warned him he would be jailed if he flouted the driving ban, saying: “You are a well-known person and a lot of people in Wynyard will know you.
“If you get behind the wheel of a car I’m sure someone will get in touch with the police.”
Teesside Magistrates’ Court was told the forward was breathalysed at hospital after the crash in November last year.
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He was found to have 230mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 80mg.
The shop had to close for five days and stock worth more than £5,000 was damaged – with a total loss of around £32,000.
Michael Lawson, prosecuting, said: “Luckily, no-one was injured as a result of this collision.”
The court was told Graham had never been arrested before the “unwise incident”.
Veteran striker Graham began his playing career at Middlesbrough in 2004 where he scored one goal in 15 appearances for the club.
After spells on loan at Leeds United, Darlington, Derby County and Blackpool, he signed with Carlisle in 2007.
He spent two years at the club and scored 29 goals before moving to Watford.
Graham left the club for then-Premier League side Swansea in 2011 and made 54 appearances before his three-year stint at Sunderland.
He left the Black Cats in 2016 and spent four years with Blackburn Rovers where he netted 45 goals in 158 appearances.
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Graham returned to Sunderland in 2020 before retiring from professional football a year later.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
