Ordeal: Joe Cole, pictured with wife Carly in Liverpool on Tuesday, revealed she was carjacked in court today The wife of England footballer Joe Cole was carjacked by eight masked thugs on motorbikes outside her home while her husband cared for their baby inside, it emerged yesterday.
Carly Zucker, 26, was sitting in her black Audi A4 opposite her £3million Chelsea townhouse when she was pulled out of the driver’s seat by her attackers.
One mugger sped off with the car while the others made their escape on motorbikes
Details of the attack emerged in court yesterday as Cole’s lawyer used it to try to argue that the footballer should not be banned from driving because his wife had been left too traumatised by it to drive herself.
Magistrates decided to ban him for 50 days and ordered him to pay a £750 fine and costs of £600.
But after hearing about the carjacking, magistrates chairman John Neary agreed to suspend the ban and fine while Cole appeals.
The raid happened on August 8 at 8.50am as the couple were completing their move to Formby, near Liverpool. Cole now plays football for Liverpool after leaving Chelsea.
Stolen: The £40,000 Audi A8 was taken by a gang of 'thugs on motorbikes' from outside the couple's Chelsea townhouseLast night Scotland Yard said it was still hunting for the car and for those who attacked Miss Zucker.
Cole was being sentenced at Staines Magistrates Court in Surrey yesterday for speeding at 105mph last November in the Audi later stolen in the robbery.
He was represented by Nick Freeman, nicknamed Mr Loophole for his skill in getting celebrity clients off the hook on legal technicalities.
Mr Freeman told the court: ‘Mr Cole moved to Liverpool four weeks ago. During that move his wife was outside their house in London.
‘She was in the car, registered in her name, when she was car-jacked by eight thugs on motorbikes.
Terrified: Mrs Cole, pictured with her husband in their Audi last year, is too afraid to driveThey had their faces concealed and forcibly removed her from the car. The defendant was inside the house at the time with the baby.
‘She is 26, she has been seriously traumatised by this incident to the extent that she has not actually driven since.
‘That situation is now compounded by the fact that they have moved to a new town with a five-month-old girl.’
Mr Freeman said that if Cole, who already had six points on his licence before this offence, was banned from driving his wife, a personal trainer, would be unable to travel freely.
He added: ‘Eventually she will have to start driving again. Having a young baby and being who she is, she clearly cannot rely on public transport - that would be unfeasible.’
Mr Freeman said his client had been unable to attend court because he was playing football for Liverpool in Turkey on Thursday night.
The court heard that the 28-year-old midfielder was recorded driving at 105mph on the A3 Esher bypass at Claygate, Surrey, by a policeman using a speed-gun.
Cole denied speeding but was found him guilty at a previous hearing. Outside court Mr Freeman said: ‘It was a good result - but he should never have been convicted in the first place.
‘I don’t know if the carjackers were armed, but they dragged her out of the car.’
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the car and its contents had been taken during the robbery. ‘The victim was not injured,’ he said. ‘There have been no arrests and inquiries continue.’
Miss Zucker married Cole in June 2009 in Chelsea, wearing a £10,000 wedding dress. Their first daughter, Ruby Tatiana Cole, was born this March.
At least seven Liverpool players - including Steven Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt - have been burgled on Merseyside over the past five years.
source: dailymail
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