Ex-footballer Dean Saunders freed from jail one day into 10-week sentence

Updated

Former Liverpool striker Dean Saunders has been freed from jail one day into a 10-week sentence for failing to provide a breath specimen when stopped by police while driving.

The 55-year-old looked crestfallen when he realised he was going to jail on Wednesday after admitting at Chester Magistrates' Court failing to comply with a roadside breath test and failing to provide a breath specimen.

Police had stopped him after spotting his car veering across the road in the early hours of May 10 this year in Boughton, Chester.

On Thursday, his lawyers launched a bail application, held in private without access to press or public.

Judge Steven Everett granted Saunders bail until his appeal against the jail sentence is heard on October 4, according to the court clerk, approached by the PA news agency after the hearing had ended and the court reopened to press and public.

The details were confirmed by Saunders's solicitor, Conor Johnstone, who added: "Clearly, he will be relieved."

No bail conditions were imposed, Mr Johnstone said.

The father of three had been branded "arrogant" by District Judge Nicholas Sanders, passing sentence on Wednesday, who told Saunders he had shown no remorse and thought he was "above the law".

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