Sammy Ameobi, 32, who played for Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest, smashed his Audi E-Tron car with personalised plate into a teenager’s Citroen C1 leaving her in the wreckage, a court heard
A former Premier League football star left a teenager in A&E after causing a hit and run accident while on his way to his job as a £360-a-week apprentice.
Sammy Ameobi, 32, smashed his Audi E-Tron car with a personalised plate into the teenager’s Citroen C1 during morning rush hour. A court heard how he then fled the scene, leaving the 19-year-old in the wreckage. Her family say she was propelled into the path of oncoming traffic and suffered undisclosed injuries. The victim was rushed to hospital with her car written off.
The former Newcastle United winger was traced after the teenager’s mum posted a public appeal for information about the culprit – and included the distinctive SAMM11Y number plate of his electrically powered 4×4.
Police also used CCTV footage of the accident to track Ameobi down and it emerged he had no valid insurance to drive the luxury car. When quizzed, the former Premier League footballer claimed he was in a ‘’panic’’ because he had just started a new job as an apprentice earning £22,000 a year – and was in a hurry to get to work.
At Chester Magistrates Court, Ameobi, living in Northwich, pleaded guilty to failing to stop after an accident and having no insurance and was fined £240 with £181 in costs and victim surcharge. His licence was endorsed with six penalty points. Val Tonkinson, prosecuting, said: “This offence dates back to November 12 of last year at 7.10am. The driver of the other vehicle was driving along Chester Way, Northwich, which is linked to a roundabout.
“She has stopped in the middle of three lanes. When the lights turned green she went through the roundabout. There were further traffic lights. At that point she was turning right when a vehicle collided with the right wing of her vehicle. It caused damage to her vehicle, to the right hand wing mirror.
“What she says is she saw the vehicle but was not able to identify it other than it being a dark colour and a 4X4. She did not see the registration plate. The vehicle then drove off. This was reported to the police.” Miss Tonkinson said that police used CCTV to identify the car. “It was found that the defendant had no insurance in place at the time of the collision,” the prosecutor said, “He has explained the circumstances.
“A form was sent to the defendant asking him to confirm who the driver was. The form was returned. It was admitted by the defendant that he was the driver at the time. The defendant was not interviewed in relation to this matter. He is of previous good character, there are no previous convictions.’’
Miss Tonkinson said there was no application for compensation. The charge states that damage to the teen’s car included “dents to the wheel arch of the right hand side of the vehicle back and front” and the “right side wing mirror”. Representing himself, Ameobi said: “Obviously, what I did was wrong. I understand that. It was completely out of character. I panicked at that moment to be honest with you.
“I am not trying to make excuses for it. My wife and I were in the hospital with my son the night before. He had choked on medication he had for eczema. I did not get any sleep. I had started an apprenticeship after quite a long time out of work with health issues and stuff like that. I was rushing to get to work and worried about my son.
“I just panicked at that moment. That is all that was. With the vehicle insurance incident that was completely my fault. I have all the insurance documents with me. I have had a private registration for years and years. It was something of a sentimental thing. I completely forgot to inform the insurance company of the change. It was not until I received the court summons on January 6 that I saw the second charge. I did not realise I was not insured. That is when I got it sorted.”
Ameobi, known as Sammy, is a devout Christian and his father is a pastor of a church. He started out with the youth academy of Newcastle United making his way to the first team in 2011. He made 70 appearances for the senior team during a seven-year period while spending time on loan to Bolton Wanderers, Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest. Ameobi’s brothers Shola and Tomi are also professional footballers.
