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Newcastle United's top scorer Loic Remy has appeared in court for allegedly driving his Porsche while over the limit.

At Newcastle Magistrates’ Court, the Frenchman pleaded not guilty to the offence, which is said to have taken place on March 9, the day of United’s postponed match against Everton.

Trying to arrange a date for his trial, the court agreed to consider the player’s World Cup commitments in Brazil, where he hopes to be a part of the French squad’s trophy bid.

Dressed in jeans, dark blue shirt and black trainers and sporting thick-rimmed glasses, Remy, 27, sat waiting at the back of the courtroom yesterday for his case to heard.

It’s alleged the United forward was stopped by police driving a Porsche Cayenne along the A696 Woolsington Bypass in Newcastle.

District Judge Stephen Earl said: “It is said on March 9 you were stopped on the Woolsington Bypass after consuming so much alcohol your breath exceeded the limit.” The roadside breath test gave a reading of 56 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the limit being 35 mircogrammes.

Sitting at the front of the court room, Remy, who lives in Ponteland, spoke to confirm his name and address and to enter his not guilty plea.

His defence solicitor Jonathan Dunkley asked District Judge Earl for the hearing to be adjourned due to issues with Remy understanding the full details of the charge. Mr Dunkley said: “There are a number of issues with this case I need to look at in more detail.

“English is not the defendant’s first language, although his English is better than my French. We are going to need an interpreter to help go through the documents.”

Refusing the request, District Judge Earl said progress must be made and asked for a plea from the footballer. As the court tried to arrange a trial date Mr Dunkley flagged up Remy’s upcoming sporting engagements with the French national team, adding: “He has commitments in Rio de Janeiro around May. He is confident he will be a part of the squad. He may be there for two months but may be back sooner.”

When asked, Remy, who’s been out for three weeks with a suspected ankle injury, said he was due to leave for Brazil on May, 13 returning on July 12. A trial date was set for July 15 at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court.