IPSWICH Town defender Alex Bruce has been fined �60 and given three points on his licence after admitting using his mobile phone while driving.

Tom Potter

IPSWICH Town defender Alex Bruce has been fined �60 and given three points on his licence after admitting using his mobile phone while driving.

The 24-year-old player was pulled over twice on the same day for the same offence earlier this year but answered only one of the charges at South East Suffolk Magistrates Court yesterday.

Bruce did not attend court but chose to admit his guilt through solicitor Diana Infanti, who said her client had “made a mistake and was sorry”.

His mistake dates back to March 9 this year when police pulled his black four-wheel-drive over twice in the space of three hours.

The footballer refused to accept an on-the-spot penalty on the first occasion but, when stopped again near Salthouse Quay for using a mobile while driving, he told officers: “I'll admit this one.”

Bruce may have avoided court action had he accepted fixed penalty notices for both offences, but he denied using his phone in the first instance and the charge was later discontinued.

Admitting the second charge in his absence, Bruce's solicitor said he had picked up his phone after feeling it vibrate in his lap to see who was calling.

“He had a Bluetooth function on his phone and would have used it to answer the call,” she added. “He made a mistake and says he will not be using the phone in his car again.

“He would have been issued a fixed penalty notice had the first incident not been taken to court. But he is adamant he was not using his phone when initially stopped earlier in the day.”

Bruce was fined �60 for using a handheld mobile phone while driving a motor vehicle and given three points on his licence, which had already been endorsed with three points at the time of the offence.

He was also ordered to pay �61 in court costs but magistrates agreed any defence costs incurred for the discontinued charge would be reimbursed.