FC BARCELONA midfielder Gerard Piqué is once again on the wrong side of traffic police – this time for driving with a licence with no points.
In Spain, driving licences start with 12 points, and these are removed when offences are committed, leading to an automatic ban once they have all gone – the opposite to the UK system where licences start off on zero and points are added, resulting in a ban once the maximum of 12 is reached.
Piqué, 31, was caught driving through the Eixample district of Barcelona at 15.00 on Friday, say the metropolitan police, or Guardia Urbana.
Officers pulled the car up and asked to see Piqué's documents, and found his licence had no points left.
Road traffic law changes mean this is no longer considered a civil offence, but a crime against highway safety.
It attracts a hefty fine and community service or a prison sentence of up to six months – although in Spain, for a first offence, custodial terms of less than two years do not have to be served.
The father of two, who lives with Colombian-born pop-rock legend Shakira, was fined €10,500 by the Guardia Urbana three-and-a-half years ago for his reportedly 'aggressive behaviour' six months earlier towards officers who had given his brother a parking ticket.
An offence such as this would normally carry a fine of a maximum of €900, but given that the Barça star earns over €6 million a year, the lady judge in charge of the case considered this would not be a sufficient deterrent and upped it to €10,500, being more in proportion with the player's salary.
Piqué duly paid this fine within days of the hearing.
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