Southampton midfielder Mario Lemina had his “UK record speeding fine” reduced by £94,000 for court mistake

Last week, it was reported that Southampton midfielder Mario Lemina was given a speeding fine of £96,000, a UK record. However, that fine has been reduced by £94,000 to £2,000 after a mistake from Aldershot Magistrates’ Court per the Daily Echo.

Lemina was handed 18 points on top of that fine last Monday after his Mercedes was caught breaking the speed limit on three separate occasions. He already had 21 points on his licence.

The Gabon midfielder claimed it was either his brother or cousin who would have been behind the wheel for those speeding offences and they were both staying with him at the time. However, Lemina, who was not present at his hearing, did admit to three counts of failing to notify Hampshire Police after repeatedly ignoring their letters.

But Aldershot Magistrates’ Court has had to dramatically backtrack after it emerged Lemina was sentenced under the guidelines for the wrong charge.

Lemina was charged under the guidelines for speeding - which can see those caught fined up to 150% of their weekly earnings as of April 2017. But he should have instead been charged for failing to identify the driver of a car, for which there is a defined fine limit.

As a result, Lemina’s three charges of speeding - driving at 95mph on a dual carriageway and twice for driving at 60mph in a temporary 40mph speed limit - have been dropped.

Lemina must now only pay £2,301, which is 7% of his £32,272 weekly wage according to the Daily Echo.

This means Ant McPartlin, of Ant and Dec fame, remains the holder of the biggest motoring fine in UK history. He was fined £86,000 for a drink driving offence in April earlier this year.