By Michael Lynch
January 21 2004

Former Forest, West Ham and Benfica star defender Gary Charles was found drunk and abusive in a mobile phone shop, a court has heard.

Former Forest star Gary Charles was found drunk and abusive in a mobile phone shop, a court has heard.

They had found the 33-year-old extremely drunk carrying an unfinished bottle of vodka in Alfreton just after 3pm on January 3.

In court yesterday, Charles pleaded guilty to being drunk and disorderly.

Prosecutor Kerry Clay said Charles still had 136mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath - which is the equivalent of nearly four times the legal limit for driving - eight hours after being arrested.

Nicola Hunter, representing Charles, said "He is desperately sorry for his actions,"

"Charles was seeking help for problems with alcohol", she added.

The court heard that Charles, of Highstairs Lane in Stretton, Derbyshire, was also convicted in June last year for being drunk and disorderly.

District Judge Joanne Alderson fined him £100 and ordered that he pay £70 costs. She also ordered that he pay £110 to cover the cleaning costs of the custody suite.

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