Former Ireland star Anthony Stokes arrested for second time after alleged garda chase

sundayworld.com has learned that the ex-Premier League player, who has nine caps for the Republic of Ireland, was arrested in south Dublin at around 3am today.

It followed reports of a Volkswagen Golf R failing to stop for gardaí at the M50 southbound near Cabinteely and gardaí subsequently gave chase.

After a pursuit, which lasted around 20 minutes, the vehicle was found abandoned in a housing estate near Loughlinstown.

Gardaí searched the area and Anthony Stokes was arrested a short distance away.

He was brought to Dundrum Garda Station in relation to road traffic offences and was questioned on suspicion of dangerous driving.

The 34-year-old, who spent several seasons playing for Celtic, has since been charged as part of the investigation.

In a statement a garda spokesperson said: "Gardaí have arrested and charged a man in his 30s following an incident of dangerous driving in the Cabinteely area of Dublin.

"He is due to appear before Dun Laoghaire District Court at a later date."

This morning's incident is the second time within four weeks that Stokes was allegedly behind the wheel of a car which failed to stop for gardaí,

In the early hours of January 6, he was arrested following a pursuit between Crumlin and Chapelizod in Dublin during which he is alleged to have driven dangerously and sped through red traffic lights.

Over €4,000 worth of cocaine was also recovered in the glove box of the vehicle, and he was later arrested on suspicion of drug and road traffic offences.

A second man, with an address in Dublin 14, was also in the car at the time.

Both were later charged as part of the garda investigation and will appear before Dublin District Court at a later date.

Last September a Scottish judge issued an arrest warrant for Stokes after he failed to appear before a court for a sentencing hearing.

The former Celtic footballer was due to be sentenced for harassing his ex-girlfriend which included sending a string of abusive messages to her.

He had been arrested by the PSNI last year after failing to appear in court previously and was returned to Scotland.

Anthony Stokes was also due to stand trial before the Dublin district court in January of last year for allegedly headbutting a man in Temple Bar in 2019.

However, the case was struck out due to the absence of a key witness.

In 2017 he was given a two-year suspended sentence for headbutting an Elvis impersonator at Buck Whaleys nightclub in 2013.

The victim suffered a broken nose and broken teeth following the assault.

Anthony Stokes was a youth player with Arsenal and went on to play for a string of English teams including Sheffield United and Crystal Palace as well as Sunderland in the premier league.

He also spent over six years playing for Celtic in the Scottish premier league while making nine appearances for the Irish national team.

More recently he had been playing in the Iranian football league but has spent much of his time in Dublin over the past number of months.