Ex-Irish footballer Anthony Stokes charged with driving offence after drugs found in car

The former Premier League player and one other man were arrested in the Crumlin area of Dublin and quizzed by gardai in relation to dangerous driving and the seizure of drugs.

Both men were station charged in relation to the driving incident and are expected to appear in court at a later date.

Stokes was arrested after the car he was driving allegedly failed to stop for gardaí in south Dublin in the early hours of Friday morning.

The vehicle was pursued from Crumlin and broke a number of red lights before stopping in the Chapelizod area.

The driver and a male passenger exited the car and fled but were arrested following a brief foot chase.

Both men were arrested and brought to Crumlin garda station where they were quizzed on suspicion of possession of drugs for the purpose of sale and supply.

Gardaí said they arrested two men (aged in their 30s) in the early hours of Friday morning, January 6, “in relation to incidents of dangerous driving in Dublin 12”.

"A quantity of drugs was also recovered from the offending vehicle,” a Garda spokesperson said.

“Both men were detained in Crumlin Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 and have been charged in relation to this.”

They have since been station bailed and are due to appear before court at a later date.

Stokes (34) who made over 100 appearances for Celtic is also wanted in Scotland after he failed to appear at a court sentencing hearing.

The striker was due to face sentencing after pleading guilty to breaching a non-harassment order after he sent a barrage of offensive text messages to his ex-girlfriend Eilidh Scott’s father.

Last year he had his prosecution for headbutting a man in Dublin’s Temple Bar struck out due to the absence of a key witness.

The Dubliner had claimed he acted in self-defence.

On the night in question, he had been at the bar with his girlfriend. His solicitor had told the court his client " says he acted at all times in self-defence, proportionately".

He was accused of assault causing harm to Fraser Spratt at Fitzgerald's pub on Aston Quay, in Dublin 2, on March 16, 2019, which he denied.

The charge was under section three of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.

A lengthy adjournment was required for the hearing at Dublin District Court because the alleged injured party lived in the UK, the proceedings heard in 2020.

It was the second time Stokes had been before the courts in relation to headbutting someone in a bar.

In 2017, Stokes received a two year suspended sentence for headbutting Elvis impersonator Anthony Bradley, 53, at Buck Whaleys on Leeson Street, Dublin, on June 8, 2013.

Speaking to The Sunday World in February 2022, Bradley said he still hasn't seen a cent of the €230,000 the footballer was ordered to pay him five years prior.

Stokes also refused to make a small charity donation in lieu of the €230,000.

Stokes offered €30,000 as a token of his remorse when he appeared in the Circuit Court and committed to paying the amount in two weeks, but never followed through on that promise.

Mr Bradley also took a separate successful civil action in the High Court against Stokes, saying that he effectively gave up his career as an Elvis impersonator after the former Ireland striker headbutted him, leaving him with a broken nose and damaged teeth.