Champion jockey Oisin Murphy has been handed a substantial fine and a lengthy driving ban after admitting to drunk driving and crashing his car into a tree earlier this year.
The 29-year-old, of Beales Farm Road, Lambourn, Hungerford, was fined £70,000 and disqualified from driving for 20 months at Reading Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
Murphy pleaded guilty to one count of driving a motor vehicle while over the prescribed alcohol limit.
The charge followed an incident on April 27, when his grey Mercedes A Class left the road and collided with a tree in Hermitage, Berkshire, at approximately 12am. The court heard that a passenger, who owned the vehicle, was with Murphy at the time. Both individuals were subsequently taken to hospital following the crash.
Murphy was later discharged to take a breathalyser test at a police station at about 7am, which showed a reading of 66mg per 100 millilitres of breath.
This meant he was “just shy of twice above the drink-driving limit” at the time of driving, prosecutor Richard Atkins told the court.
Sporting a dark blue suit, white shirt and tie, Murphy only spoke to confirm his name, date of birth, and address, before entering his guilty plea.
Judge Sam Goozee, sentencing, told Murphy: “You are lucky that neither you, your passenger, or the public were injured by your actions.
“I do balance that with the remorse you have shown for your actions.
“You have also recognised that you have let the public down by virtue of your actions, and your colleagues in the racing world.”
Murphy’s defence barrister Alex Di Francesco offered the court an apology on behalf of his client.
Mr Di Francesco said: “He wants to apologise, first to his passenger, to the public and other road users… and he wants to apologise to those whom he works alongside with.”
Murphy received a £70,000 fine, with a £2,000 surcharge and £85 in costs.
The figure was calculated based on his annual earnings, which the court heard are in the region of £250,000 a year, in addition to a weekly salary of £1,250.
Murphy, who grew up in Killarney, Co Kerry, has been crowned UK champion jockey four times - in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2024.
He was among the winners at the Doncaster Racecourse Supporting Racing Staff Week Handicap last week, and rode five winners at Royal Ascot earlier in June.
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