Gascoigne avoids jail sentence

Perennial bad boy Paul Gascoigne was handed an eight-week suspended sentence on Thursday for drink-driving.

The former England international was also banned from driving for three years by the Newcastle Magistrates Court, after he was pulled over by police in Newcastle on October 8 with a blood alcohol level more than four times the legal limit.

The 43-year-old was also handed an alcohol treatment order, while his eight-week sentence will be suspended for a year.

Gascoigne is also set to face court on a separate drink-driving charge, after he was found to be more than four times over the legal alcohol limit on February 7 in north Yorkshire.

The former striker has denied his guilt for the second offence, which will be heard at the Northallerton Magistrates’ Court next week.