Raheem Sterling Charged with Dangerous Driving and Nitrous Oxide Possession

Raheem Sterling will appear in court next month charged with dangerous driving and possession of nitrous oxide for wrongful inhalation after crashing his car into motorway barriers in May.

The 31-year-old, capped 82 times by England and a veteran of three World Cups, was involved in a single-car collision on the M3 in Hampshire on the morning of Thursday, 28 May. Police say his Lamborghini struck barriers on the southbound carriageway close to the Minley Interchange.

No other vehicles were involved and no injuries were reported.

A Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary spokesman confirmed: “A driver will appear in court next month to face charges following a collision on the M3. Raheem Sterling, 31, from Berkshire, has been charged for the following offences: dangerous driving, possession of nitrous oxide for wrongful inhalation, failing to provide a specimen.

The charges come following a single vehicle collision, involving a Lamborghini, on the M3 southbound, close to the Minley Interchange [Hampshire], on 28 May, 2026. No other vehicles were involved and no injuries were reported. Mr Sterling is due to appear at Basingstoke magistrates court on 15 September.”

Officers had suspected Sterling of “driving a vehicle whilst unfit through drugs”, but that allegation does not feature among the charges he now faces.

Back in May, a source close to Sterling told BBC Sport there was “no proof” of drugs in his system. The same source said the forward had endured “an extremely tough couple of years” and had been made to “feel worthless” and “forgotten about.”

It marks another stark turn in a career that once placed him at the heart of English football’s elite.

Sterling has been without a club since leaving Feyenoord at the end of last season, his short spell in the Eredivisie ending quietly after he joined the Dutch side in February on a short-term deal. That move followed his departure from Chelsea by mutual consent.

Chelsea had paid £47.5m to sign him from Manchester City in 2022. At City he collected four Premier League titles, five League Cups and one FA Cup across seven trophy-laden years, becoming one of the most influential forwards in the country.

The trajectory changed. In 2024, the former Liverpool winger joined Arsenal on loan, but when he returned to Stamford Bridge in 2025 he was frozen out of the first-team squad and made to train separately.

For England, Sterling’s record remains substantial: 82 caps between 2012 and 2022, appearances at three World Cups and two European Championships, and long stretches as a central figure in the national team’s attack.

Now the next date in his calendar is not a Champions League night or a major tournament opener, but a hearing at Basingstoke magistrates court on 15 September — and the question hanging over him is no longer about form or selection, but what comes next in a career suddenly standing at a crossroads.