Driving ban let off for 106mph Newcastle footballer Obafemi Martins

Road safety groups reacted angrily yesterday when a Premiership footballer escaped a driving ban after being caught at 106 mph in his Porsche.

Newcastle United striker Obafemi Martins was clocked in a 70mph zone on his way to the city's airport.

Magistrates heard he needed treatment in Italy for an injury, and was also going to see his sick son. They gave him six points on his licence, fined him £550 and ordered him to pay £400 costs.

Jeremy Forsberg, of the Northumbria Safer Roads Initiative, said: "It does not matter who you are - that kind of speeding is unacceptable.

He should have been kicked off the road."

Police clocked Martins' £85,000 Porsche Cayenne on the A696 on the afternoon of May 10 last year, Newcastle magistrates heard.

His solicitor Michael Field said: "He was in danger of missing his flight, the only flight running that day."

District Judge Stephen Earl told Nigerian international Martins, 24, of Gateshead: "The fact that you have pleaded guilty makes the difference between keeping your licence and not keeping your licence. We now hope to see you again on the pitch."

A spokesman for the charity Brake said: "Speeding kills, maims and devastates families - it is never acceptable. The justice system needs to ensure such a serious breach of the law is matched with a tough penalty."

Andrew Howard, head of road safety at the AA, said: "Speeding in excess of 100mph tends to trigger an instant ban: "Ultimately it falls to the opinion of the magistrate."