Linford Christie banned from driving for 15 months

Linford Christie has been disqualified from driving for 15 months after being found guilty of careless driving.

The ex-Olympic sprinter, 51, was cleared of dangerous driving by the jury at Aylesbury Crown Court, Buckinghamshire today after a two-day trial, AAP reports.

Christie, of Sherland Road, Twickenham, West London, had accidentally been driving the wrong way up the A413 and crashed head-on with a taxi carrying two newlyweds.

"When I arrived at the Tesco I realised it was shut, so instead of going into the forecourt I, in fact, did a U-turn back on to the service road," Christie told the court.

"I was just driving along and the next thing I knew, I saw a light and we had a crash, and that was it. I accept that it was my fault. I was driving along and I saw the car headlights and I thought he was on the wrong side of the road, and then I realised I was, and then I tried to turn."

Christie, who won the 100m Olympic gold medal in 1992, was also fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £1,000 in prosecution costs.