8:21am Tuesday 9th February 2010
FORMER England football star Paul Gascoigne has been released on police bail after he was questioned on suspicion of being drunk in charge of a vehicle in North Yorkshire.
The former Newcastle and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder, who has faced a long battle with alcoholism and depression, was taken into custody after police were called to a disturbance at a takeaway off the A1 at Leeming Bar.
Gascoigne, 42, and another man were being questioned by officers yesterday.
A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “At 9.10pm on Sunday, officers were called to a disturbance at a takeaway at Leeming Bar. Following inquiries, two men, aged 42 and 40, from the Newcastle area, were arrested on suspicion of being drunk while in charge of a motor vehicle. They were taken into custody for questioning.”
Gascoigne, who was sectioned three times under the Mental Health Act in 2008, has described how when he hit rock bottom he was taking cocaine and drinking a litre of gin a day, which left him afraid to leave his room.
The former England hero, who also played for Lazio, Rangers, Middlesbrough and in China, spoke about his battle with addiction in March last year.
He said he had been clean of drink and drugs for four months, working the 12 Steps Programme and attending Alcoholics Anonymous.
But in December last year, he was handed a fixed penalty notice for being drunk and disorderly after being arrested in Newcastle.
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