Exclusive: Premier League manager fined for driving without insurance ‘after DVLA screw-up’

Tottenham Hotspur’s Tim Sherwood was also ordered to pay £110 costs and a £20 victim surcharge in his absence at Hatfield Magistrates Court.

The news will be an added blow to the 45-year-old, whose team recently lost three big games against Arsenal, Chelsea and Benfica.

When approached for a comment at his gated estate in the village of Dagnall, near Berkhamsted, his housekeeper said he had in fact sold the car in question.

Head of press for Spurs Simon Felstein said: “It is an admin error. Tim sold the car last summer. It was always insured.”

The car had been provided to Mr Sherwood by Icon Motoring, which supplies ‘luxury and performance cars for iconic sports personalities and VIPs’ according to its website.

Owner Nick Cramer said: “Tim Sherwood is not going to be driving without insurance. We have got all the paperwork to deal with this.

“I do all the cars for all the staff at Spurs. Every car in the trade constantly gets this.

“The DVLA automatically generates these things without checking.”

Mr Cramer said he was about to send the purchase details of when he bought the car back from Mr Sherwood to the court service.

Mr Felstein said: “The courts are having to deal with hundreds of these at the moment because the DVLA has screwed up.”

Mr Cramer said the DVLA computer can’t search for trade or fleet car insurance policies that companies like his use.

He said: “I had had another bailiff letter that came in today chasing me for money. It’s driving everybody mad and it’s the DVLA’s fault – it’s a nightmare.

“The DVLA can only search private policies. It’s ridiculous how they are doing it. These are all done from assumptions.”

An admin officer for Herts Court Service confirmed that the court service is now ‘frequently’ being informed about this issue by angry motorists.

He said: “I do not even think Tim Sherwood was aware of this going through the court and he was not actually there.

“He was given notification – a summons would have been sent to him by the DVLA, but he may not have received it because everything is done by Royal Mail.

“We can convict people in their absence, and proceeded in absence of a plea before the court.”

He said the matter is being looked into by the court’s legal team.

He said: “New evidence has come to light that in fact the offence was not committed as such and Tim Sherwood was not the owner at the time in question.

“The magistrates will have to reopen the case, and the DVLA will look at withdrawing it.”