EXCLUSIVE: Ashley Cole arrested after drunken 2am confrontation with police
Chelsea and England footballer Ashley Cole was arrested early today after a drunken confrontation with police.
The 28-year-old left-back, husband of Girls Aloud singer and X Factor judge Cheryl Cole, was detained following a foul-mouthed rant at officers in west London.
Sources said the £82,000 a week star repeatedly swore at police after emerging from the Collection nightclub in Brompton Road, South Kensington.
After refusing to tone down his language, he was detained and taken to a police station to sober up.
After spending three hours in a custody suite, he was issued with an £80 fixed penalty notice for being drunk and disorderly and allowed to go home.
Earlier he had been pictured at a nearby charity event with ex GMTV presenter Fiona Phillips.
The highly embarrassing incident will be a major concern to his wife, currently climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with a number of other celebrities in aid of Comic Relief.
The Girls Aloud singer is on the fourth day of the climb and has completed almost 16,000ft of the 19,340ft mountain.
Cheryl, 25, said yesterday: 'The fun is over. This is unquestionably the hardest thing I have ever done.'
The team is scheduled to reach the top of the mountain on Saturday, although a Comic Relief spokeswoman admitted the fragile state of the group could cause the group to take longer to hit the summit.
Her marriage to Cole was put under huge strain last year over allegations of his infidelity.
Cole was branded a love rat by hairdresser Aimee Walton, who claimed he cheated Cheryl following a drunken night out with his footballing friends in late 2007.
The drunken episode is unlikely to go down well with Cole's employers, Chelsea, who play away at Coventry City in a crucial FA Cup quarter final on Saturday.
The club's new manager, Guus Hiddink, is a tough disciplinarian who will be alarmed that one of his top stars should be inebriated so close to a big game.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'At about 2.15am today, a man was arrested in Brompton Road, South Kensington, on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly and taken to a central London police station where he was later issued with a fixed penalty notice for being drunk and disorderly and released at 5.37am.'
from the daily mail
Ashley Cole at a charity event at Stamford Bridge
