Scotland Striker to appear in court over drink driving arrest
Sheffield United forward Oli McBurnie has been charged with drink-driving.
The 23-year-old is accused of driving over the limit on Friday in Leeds and is set to appear in court on November 6.
McBurnie subsequently missed his side’s clash with Arsenal last night.
The forward became the most expensive Scottish player ever this summer when he moved from Swansea City to Sheffield United for £20m. Kieran Tierney however would break that record later in the summer.
He scored 20 goals for Swansea City in the Sky Bet Championship last season and got his first Premier League goal for Sheffield United against Leicester City in August.
A police spokesman from West Yorkshire Police said: “Oli McBurnie, from Leeds, will appear before Leeds Magistrates’ Court on November 6 after being charged with driving over the prescribed limit in Leeds in the early hours of Friday October 18.”
First capped by his country this year, McBurnie was the focus of controversy last month when a video appeared of him allegedly saying he hoped not to be called up for Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad as the “set up was s***”.
He later apologised for the comments and was told by manager Steve Clarke to rectify his comments with his performances for Scotland.
McBurnie subsequently started for Scotland against Russia but failed to impress and dropped out of the most recent Scotland squad due to injury.
The incident comes in the same month that Derby County duo Tom Lawrence and Mason Bennet were sentenced after pleading guilty to drink-driving.
The pair both crashed on the A6 near Derby whilst driving over the limit after a team bonding dinner.
They also admitted to failing to stop at the scene of a crash, having left teammate and captain Richard Keogh in the back of one of the cars unconscious before returning to the scene 45 minutes later.
Both Lawrence and Bennet were given a 12-month community order, instructed to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work and given a two-year driving ban.
Keogh suffered severe injuries that mean he will not play again until 2020.
