Cricketer blames cat over drunken-driving charge

England bowler Graeme Swann told a police officer who stopped him for drunken driving that he had had to go out to buy screwdrivers to rescue his trapped cat, a court heard on Monday.

The 31-year-old spinner had been out with friends when he returned to his Nottinghamshire home and discovered his pet trapped under the floorboards, he told police.

He said he then got in his white Porsche Cayenne and was driving to a supermarket in the early hours of April 2 when he was pulled over, the Nottingham Magistrate’s Court heard, the Press Association reported.

Police Constable Steven Denniss said he decided to pull Swann over initially because he was driving a high-performance car in an area where there had been a spate of burglaries.

“Mr Swann stated he had been out that evening and had come back to find his cat trapped under the floorboards in his house. He had gone to Asda to fetch some screwdrivers to remove some floorboards,” Denniss told the court.

“His speech was slightly slurred but he was compliant.

He was slightly upset due to the fact of his cat and what had just happened.”

The officer said Swann, third in the International Cricket Council’s world bowling rankings, then admitted he “shouldn’t have probably been driving”. A blood test found he had 83 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood. The legal limit is 80 mg.

Swann denies one charge of drink driving and the trial continues.—Reuters