ALBION star Gaetan Bong has been fined £667 for speeding at 90mph in a 70mph zone in his Land Rover.
The Brighton and Hove Albion defender did not attend his sentencing hearing at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
Bong, 30, was clocked on the A27 near Shoreham at around 1pm on December 29 last year.
He was also previously charged with failing to respond to a court summons when he did not appear at a previous hearing in early September.
But the charge was dropped on Tuesday morning after it emerged Bong had sent the paperwork but it had not been recorded in the court system.
Bong did not attend the brief hearing but his lawyer Mark Haslam entered a guilty plea to speeding on his behalf.
Magistrate Maria Kempshall handed him a £667 fine, plus £85 court costs and a surcharge of £66, leaving Bong with an £818 bill to pay within 14 days.
It had been expected that Bong would be banned from driving after magistrates were told last month that he was speeding without a licence. But this turned out not to be the case.
He did not attend court in September but the case against him was found to be proved and a new date was set for him to return to court to be disqualified.
The magistrates were told Bong already had enough penalty points to put him over the limit for losing his driving licence.
Then when his driving record was checked, the court heard he did not have a licence. Magistrates were told the Seagulls defender was convicted of two speeding offences in 2016.
But yesterday magistrates were told the Cameroon international player holds an EU driving licence. He was given three points on that licence.
Bong was clocked on a Sussex Police radar gun breaking the 70mph limit on the A27.
The road links the Amex stadium, Albion’s home, with their training ground at Lancing.
Bong gave his address as the training ground in court papers.
Speaking after the player was sentenced, solicitor Mark Haslam said there was a mix up with paperwork and the player had always intended to plead guilty.
He said: “He has put himself in a precarious position which he will learn a lesson from.”
The player was given 14 days to pay.
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