Raheem Sterling Faces Court Over Dangerous Driving Charges

Raheem Sterling is due in court next month to face charges of dangerous driving and possession of nitrous oxide for wrongful inhalation after crashing his car into motorway barriers in May.

The 31-year-old, capped 82 times by England and most recently on the books at Feyenoord, crashed his Lamborghini into barriers on the southbound M3 near the Minley Interchange in Hampshire on the morning of Thursday, 28 May 2026. No other vehicles were involved and no injuries were reported.

Sterling was arrested at the scene and later released on bail while police carried out further enquiries.

In a statement, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary 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.”

Police had 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 sit in stark contrast to the height of his career.

Chelsea paid £47.5m to sign Sterling from Manchester City in 2022 after a seven-year spell at the Etihad in which he collected four Premier League titles, five League Cups and one FA Cup. Before that, he had broken through at Liverpool and become one of the most explosive wide forwards in the country.

His trajectory since has been far less smooth. In 2024 he joined Arsenal on loan, but on returning to Chelsea in 2025 he was frozen out of the first-team squad and told to train separately. By February this year he had left Stamford Bridge by mutual consent and signed a short-term deal with Feyenoord, only to depart the Dutch club at the end of last season.

He has been without a club since.

On the international stage, Sterling was a central figure for England across a decade, earning 82 caps between 2012 and 2022 and appearing at three World Cups and two European Championships.

Now, instead of debating his next move in the transfer market, attention turns to Basingstoke magistrates court on 15 September – and what that appearance might mean for the next chapter of a career that once seemed untouchable.