Horse racing jockey Oisin Murphy has been fined £70,000 and given a 20-month ban from driving at Reading Magistrates’ Court on Thursday afternoon. The multiple champion flat jockey pleaded guilty to one count of driving a vehicle while over the prescribed limit of alcohol after he crashed his car into a tree.

Murphy was not asked to plead on a second charge of failing to cooperate with police after being asked to take a preliminary test at the roadside. The 29-year-old was involved in a single-vehicle accident in April and his legal representative said his client had made a ‘grave error’.

The jockey, of Beales Farm Road, Lambourn, Hungerford, was charged by postal requisition on June 19 after he drove his grey Mercedes A Class off the road and into a tree in Hermitage, Berkshire, at approximately 12.05am on April 27.

Murphy was crowned UK champion jockey in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2024. He won at the Doncaster Racecourse Supporting Racing Staff Week Handicap last week and rode five winners at Royal Ascot in June. He was officially charged on the Thursday of Royal Ascot week.

He only spoke to confirm his name, date of birth and address, before apologising via his barriester Alex Di Francesco KC before the verdict was delivered.

“Mr Murphy accepts that he made a great error on his part and is remorseful,” Di Francesco said. “He wants to make three apologies: firstly to the passenger and to convey how grateful the circumstances were not worse, he wants to apologise to the public and other road users, and lastly to those who he works with.”

When asked how a sentence would impact his ability to do his job, Murphy’s defence replied that anything from the court would not do so, “but it remains an open question due to the regulatory body”.

The BHA have confirmed Murphy is free to ride on the days before and after his court appearance.

He has been booked at the New York racecourse on Friday for a ride on the Qatar Racing-owned New Century in the Group 1 Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes. Victory is worth £330,000. Murphy is then slated to fly back to the UK in time for the 1.50pm at Sandown on Saturday.

An earlier statement from Thames Valley Police said: "A man has been charged in connection with an ongoing investigation into a serious road traffic collision in Hermitage, West Berkshire.

"Last Thursday (19/6) Oisin Murphy, aged 29, of Beales Farm Road, Lambourn, Hungerford, was charged by postal requisition with one count of driving a motor vehicle while over the prescribed limit of alcohol and one count of failing to cooperate with a preliminary test at the roadside.

"The charge is in connection with a single vehicle road traffic collision around 12.05am on Sunday 27 April this year when a grey Mercedes A Class left the road and crashed into a tree."