A £70,000 4x4 vehicle owned by Premier League footballer Jermain Defoe was "likely to cause danger" because the windows were so heavily tinted, a court has heard. Windows on the 26-year-old Tottenham Hotspur and England striker's 2008 Range Rover Sport allowed in less than 15 per cent of available daylight, magistrates in Southend, Essex, heard. A policeman told the court the tinting was so heavy the inside of the car was "dark". PC Rob Brettell said to be legal, tinted windows had to let in 70 per cent of available light. "Visibility would be terrible with the windows that dark," he said. "This is the worst degree. It would have been blatantly obvious. The inside part of the vehicle would have been dark."
Mr Defoe's cousin, non-league footballer Ryan Edgar, was fined £150 and had three points added to his licence after being convicted of driving a car "likely to cause danger" because the windows were heavily tinted.
He was also convicted of driving without L-plates and supervision on a provisional licence and admitted driving without insurance. He was given an absolute discharge after admitting driving with no insurance and an absolute discharge after being found guilty of driving the vehicle in a potentially dangerous condition because of the degree of window tinting. Magistrates also ordered him to pay £150 costs and imposed a £15 victim surcharge.
Magistrates heard that Edgar, 23, of Plaistow, east London, had been stopped while driving Mr Defoe, of Cuffley, Hertfordshire, had been accused of permitting the use of a motor vehicle without insurance, aiding and abetting the driving of a motor vehicle not in accordance with a licence and permitting the use of a motor vehicle which was potentially dangerous because tinted windows did not let enough light through. But the case against him was dropped last week. His lawyer, Nick Freeman, known as "Mr Loophole", said key evidence had been ruled "inadmissible".
