Sam Burgess promises at 3 a.m. when the judge issues a five-word warning to a legend during the hearing
- Sam Burgess has made a pledge at 03.00
- He tuned in to his court hearing from England
- Burgess was using his cell phone behind the wheel
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Former NRL superstar Sam Burgess has made an impassioned pledge to stay sober and off his mobile phone while behind the wheel as charges he drove on a suspended license were dismissed.
Burgess was beamed into Waverley Local Court on Thursday from the north of England, where he now trains, when the charges were dismissed.
When the South Sydney Great was pulled over by police in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in the run up to Christmas 2022, he had finished serving a 10-month license suspension for his poor driving record just months earlier.
He had initially tested positive to a roadside breath test, but subsequent tests cleared him of having drugs in his system.
The dual international was also charged with driving on a suspended license when his black BMW was stopped in Kingsford on December 22, 2022.
Sam Burgess has promised not to use his mobile phone behind the wheel
The footy legend tuned in to his court hearing from the United Kingdom
But Judge Jacqueline Milledge accepted on Thursday that he had a ‘reasonable’ belief that he was okay to drive.
She said she accepted Mr Burgess had an honest and reasonable belief that he was licensed.
‘The case is dismissed,’ Ms Milledge said to the obvious relief of Mr Burgess, who had stayed up past 3am to tune into the case.
She said she was glad to see he had tried to turn around his bad license and pleaded with him to keep a clean record from here on out.
“And get off your cell phone,” Ms. Milledge said, referring to Mr. Burgess’ record of using his cell phone while driving.
“I can promise you that,” said Mr. Burgess.