Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili has been convicted and fined after police caught him watching a video on his mobile phone while driving on the M6. The 25-year-old Georgian international was stopped by Cheshire Police on 27 January on the southbound carriageway between junctions 23 and 21 near St Helens.
Officers initially noticed Mamardashvili's black Audi failing to move into an empty left lane. When they overtook, they saw him holding his phone near the centre of the steering wheel. “The driver appeared to be watching something on the screen whilst he was driving at motorway speed,” said PC Ree in a written statement.
Mamardashvili was pulled over onto the hard shoulder and identified himself using a Georgian driving licence. The case was processed through a private Single Justice Procedure hearing after he failed to respond to the initial police prosecution notice. At a hearing at Warrington Combined Court on 22 May, he was convicted in his absence based on written police evidence.
The court fined him £440, added six penalty points to his licence, and ordered him to pay £120 in prosecution costs and a £176 victim surcharge. His conviction comes amid a national crackdown on distracted driving. Mamardashvili was among 247 motorists across England and Wales prosecuted that week for using a handheld device while driving, with collective fines exceeding £41,000.
Mamardashvili has made 20 appearances for Liverpool this season, keeping three clean sheets while covering for the injured first-choice goalkeeper, Alisson.
