Charlie Adam breaks silence on drink-driving shame as ex-Rangers star opens up on brother stealing £15k from grandad
CHARLIE ADAM has spoken for the first time about getting caught drink-driving - and his brother's conviction for stealing cash from their grandad.
The former Rangers and Dundee star claimed he had suffered a tyre blow-out after police found his damaged £50,000 Audi Q7 parked at the roadside on December 13 last year.
The 36-year-old former Rangers and Liverpool player who also works as a TV pundit, was sitting in the car using his mobile phone when police arrived and discovered he was twice the legal alcohol limit.
Speaking to This Sporting Life podcast with Tom English, he said: "It was a moment of ill discipline and I took the consequences.
"It's been detrimental to my private life, not being able to drive.
"The biggest mistake you make is getting in your car.
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"I've learned that with the course I've been on, the drink driving awareness course.
"The seriousness of it is incredible.
"It's opened my eyes up. The process of getting alcohol out your body from the first drink to the last drink - the amount of hours you have to wait.
"It was a great learning curve for me to say I've made a mistake and I'll learn from it."
He also opened up about his brother Grant being imprisoned for eight months for stealing £15,000 from their grandfather when he had power of attorney over his finances.
The goalie, 30, used the cash embezzled from Charles, 78, to fund drug and gambling habits.
He said: "My brother got sent to prison.
"I never knew about it until the day before he went to court.
"I never knew the extent of it. It was a shock, I didn't know how to handle it.
"I probably ran away from it because I was scared of what everyone else was thinking about it."I felt it was his problem, he had to deal with it.
"He's admitted guilt, he feels sorry for what he's done.
"I hope it's a learning lesson - I hope he comes out and he learns from it."
Charlie also spoke about the suicide of his dad Charles sr in 2012 and the death of his mum Ellie from cancer last year.
On his mum, he said: "It was hard, very, very difficult.
"But I find it comforting that it was an illness and not what happened to dad.
"The reason was she had cancer.
"That's probably helped me get over it a little bit, there was a reason for it.
"Dad is very difficult because there's no reason.
"That's been the hardest part to understand.
"It's never easy.
"It's hard because I never really speak about it.
"Ten years is a long time but you never forget - and it never gets easier around this time (he means Christmas time)
"I'm fine during the year but now I'm having to talk about it it's difficult, because you don't really think about it.
"Now I'm getting older and and will finish soon, you do think about the good times.
"These were the moments - I could see him standing proud when I got promoted, when I signed for Liverpool
"And he would always try to come to every game he could.
"I was lucky to have someone like that beside me, and pushing me on.
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"It's hard to talk about but it's good to talk about it.
"50 years of age to commit suicide, he must have been in a bad place."
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