Jack Grealish charged with driving without due care and attention and failing to stop at collision

Aston Villa captain has been summoned to appear at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on 25 August

Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish has been charged with two offences following a car accident during the coronavirus lockdown.

Grealish, 24, has been accused of driving without due care and attention, and failing to stop at a collision, following an incident in Waterside, Dickens Heath, in Solihull on March 29.

The Premier League footballer was pictured at the scene on the morning of Sunday 29 March, with a number of parked vehicles involved in the collision.

Reports that a white Range Rover had driven erratically and collided with two parked cars were made to West Midlands Police, with officers responding by attending the accident.

Grealish spoke to witnesses following the incident, but left by foot before police were able to attend.

Grealish has been postal charged to appear before Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on 25 August.

A West Midlands Police statement read: "A Premier League footballer has been charged with driving without due care and attention, and failing to stop at or report a collision.

"An investigation was launched after we responded to reports of a car hitting parked vehicles and the driver fleeing on foot.

"The 24-year-old from Barnt Green, Worcestershire, has been postal charged to appear before Birmingham Magistrates Court on 25 August."

Grealish issued a public apology following the incident and was reprimanded by his club for breaking the government’s coronavirus lockdown guidelines, having attended his friend and former teammate Ross McCormack’s house in the same area.

He posted a video on his Twitter account around 36 hours after the incident took place, admitting that he was “deeply embarrassed” and had acted “stupidly”.

“I just want to do a quick video message to say how deeply embarrassed I am by what has happened this weekend,” Grealish said in the video.

“I know it’s a tough time for everyone at the moment being locked indoors for so long. I obviously just got a call off a friend asking to go around to his and I stupidly agreed to do so.

“I don’t want anyone to make the same mistake that I did, so I obviously urge everyone to stay at home and follow the rules and the guidelines of what we’ve been asked to do. I know for a fact that I’ll be doing that in the near future now and I urge everyone to do the same.

“I hope everyone can accept my apology and we can move on from this. Hopefully obviously in the near future we can all be out enjoying ourselves again once this has all boiled over."