Norwich City goalkeeping legend Bryan Gunn has been banned from driving for six months after admitting multiple speeding offences.
It was despite the 55-year-old pleading exceptional hardship as he needed his licence to 'travel the country' as director of talent recruitment at Triple S Sports.
Gunn appeared at Norwich Magistrates Court today to admit three speeding offences between April and October last year and said he was 'embarrassed' to be in the dock.
Prosecutor Denise Holland told the court Gunn already had nine points on his licence for speeding in 2017, making him a 'totter'.
Gunn was caught on speed cameras twice in one weekend last April as he drove into Norwich to watch his son, Angus, play his final game for the Canaries, the court heard.
On Saturday, April 28 at 12.31am he was captured at 38mph in a 30 zone on the A146 in his Audi Q5.
The next day, at 12.40pm, he was caught in the A140 at Mile End Road travelling at 35mph in a 30 zone.
He also admitted a speeding offence from October 13 on the M6 in Staffordshire, when he was caught on camera at 59mph in a 50 zone.
Gunn told the court he has been 'very careful' since receiving the court summons, but pleaded he needed his licence to travel the length and breadth of the county to scout footballing talent.
'I watch football matches all over the country, but I also manage a team of scouts who will be at games throughout the week recommending players,' he said.
'I am the head of that department and I do the final analysis of the player and sign them to the company.
'Those people as well will be affected by my loss of licence.'
Simon Nicholls, for Gunn, told the court he had racked up 98,000 miles on the Audi Q5, and with six months left on the lease he had gone over the agreed mileage by 18,000 miles.
Gunn added: 'The football calendar dictates where I am going to be.'
He said some days he might have to watch two matches back to back by 'working around the fixture list', and he needed to visit his son in Southampton and his mother north of Inverness.
'I am obviously embarrassed about the situation that has happened in Norwich,' he told the court. 'It was coming down to visit my son and his last game for Norwich. I took my daughter with me to visit and we had a two hour delay, and I have got caught twice on the same road that weekend, which is quite embarrassing.
'I have been very aware since I have had these letters come through. I have been very careful.
'I am on the road a lot and there are a lot of speed cameras around at the moment. That is not an excuse. I know I need to be more careful.'
Mr Nicholls added Gunn is employed in a 'specialist job'.
'The reality is his licence is fundamental for his employment,' he told the court. 'He has brought this upon himself, there is no doubt about that.
'In the overall scheme of things is it better to keep him working and being successful, knowing he could risk the scenario of him losing his licence and not being able to do his job?'
Magistrates did not find exceptional hardship and banned Gunn, of Alderley Edge in Cheshire, from the roads for six months.
He was also fined a total of £1,248, with £85 costs and a £41 victim surcharge.
Footballing career
Gunn was made an inaugural member of the Norwich City Hall of Fame for exploits including a huge save against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup in 1993.
He held numerous roles in two spells at Carrow Road, from player to manager. He made 477 appearances in goal between 1986 and 1998, and returned in 2002 to work in the club's commercial department.
He went on to become sponsorship sales manager, community ambassador, club liaison officer, goalkeeping coach, head of player recruitment and, on Glenn Roeder's departure in January 2009, caretaker manager, a role which soon became permanent.
He was sacked days after the opening game of the 2009-10 season, which City lost 7-1 at home to Colchester United.
He was a member of the Scotland national football team, making six appearances for his country in the early 1990s.
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