Raheem Sterling to Face Court Charges for Driving Offences

Raheem Sterling will appear in court next month to answer charges of dangerous driving and possession of nitrous oxide for wrongful inhalation after crashing his Lamborghini into motorway barriers in May.

The 31-year-old former England winger, currently without a club after a short spell at Feyenoord, was involved in a single-vehicle collision on the M3 southbound near the Minley Interchange in Hampshire on the morning of Thursday, 28 May 2026. No other cars were involved and no injuries were reported.

Police arrested Sterling at the scene and later released him on bail while officers continued their enquiries. Those enquiries have now led to formal charges.

A Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary spokesperson confirmed: “A driver will appear in court next month to face charges following a collision on the M3. Raheem Sterling, 31, from Berkshire, has been charged for the following offences: dangerous driving, possession of nitrous oxide for wrongful inhalation, failing to provide a specimen.

“The charges come following a single vehicle collision, involving a Lamborghini, on the M3 southbound, close to the Minley Interchange [Hampshire], on 28 May, 2026. No other vehicles were involved and no injuries were reported. Mr Sterling is due to appear at Basingstoke magistrates court on 15 September.”

Officers had initially suspected Sterling of “driving a vehicle whilst unfit through drugs”, but that allegation does not feature among the charges he will face.

Back in May, a source close to Sterling told BBC Sport there was “no proof” of drugs in his system. The same source said the forward had endured “an extremely tough couple of years” and had been made to “feel worthless” and “forgotten about”.

Those words cut sharply against the backdrop of his career. Sterling, once a central figure for club and country, has been without a team since leaving Feyenoord at the end of last season, having joined the Dutch side in February on a short-term deal after parting ways with Chelsea by mutual consent.

Chelsea paid £47.5m to sign him from Manchester City in 2022, bringing in a player who had collected four Premier League titles, five League Cups and one FA Cup in seven glittering years at the Etihad. Before that, he had broken through at Liverpool, then later took in a loan spell at Arsenal in 2024.

But the trajectory dipped sharply on his return to Stamford Bridge. After coming back from that loan at Arsenal in 2025, Sterling was frozen out of the Chelsea first-team picture and told to train separately, a stark fall from grace for a player with 82 England caps between 2012 and 2022 and appearances at three World Cups and two European Championships.

Now, instead of weighing up offers for the next move of his club career, Sterling is preparing for a date at Basingstoke magistrates court on 15 September — a hearing that will shape not just his immediate future off the pitch, but the next chapter of a career that once seemed destined only for the very top.