Irish showjumping Olympian Bertram Allen fined $1,500 over Florida drink-driving

Irish Olympic showjumper Bertram Allen has been found guilty of drink-driving causing damage by a court in Florida.Allen had changed his plea to guilty after failing to strike out incriminating statements he made to police following his arrest last January on grounds he was too drunk to consent to an interview. Allen was in Florida competing in the 12-week-long Winter Spectacular Show Series in Ocala when he was arrested at the scene of a crash in West Palm Beach.He is the son of Bert Allen, the multimillionaire whose family formerly owned Slaney Foods. Allen is ranked 55th in the world in the latest Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) rankings. READ MOREThis year he was part of the Irish showjumping team that qualified for the LA Olympics in 2028. Allen previously represented Ireland at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. According to an arrest report, officer Lester Escaran said he saw a four-door white Florida-registered vehicle with front-end damage in the inside centre lane of Southern Boulevard. Samuel Bertram Allen was in the driver’s seat. Escaran said he “observed Mr Allen to have glassy watery eyes and there to be an odour of an unknown alcoholic beverage coming from the interior of the vehicle”.He said when Allen exited the car he had “an orbital sway while standing”.­Allen is alleged to have said he was driving and attempted to stop, but was unable to do so and collided with the vehicle in front of him. Allen said he was coming from Okeechobee Steakhouse and had landed in Florida earlier that day from Amsterdam. Allen is said to have failed a number of field sobriety tests before he was arrested and taken back for breathalyser tests, which showed he was over three times the legal limit. Allen testified via Zoom at a hearing after the court was told he would not be able to return to the United States until the immigration issues raised by the case were resolved. He said he split his time between Germany and Ireland and did not understand the US criminal justice system.Judge August Bonavita put him on probation for 12 months and fined him $1,526 (€1,362), including court costs. He ordered Allen to pay $2,149.75 in restitution to the person whose car he crashed into. The judge ordered the revocation of Allen’s driving licence for 12 months and required him to attend DUI (driving under the influence) School and do 75 hours of community service. Allen’s attorney, Julian Kessel, was approached for comment. He previously described him to The Irish Times as “a good, skilled and fair young man” and “an accomplished equestrian player”.