Trevor Sinclair reveals regret over 'bang to rights' drink-driving incident which saw him sacked from the BBC... but rejects claims he called officer a 'white ****' after 2018 conviction

The former West Ham player used to regularly appear on the channel's coverage Sinclair has since held roles at talkSPORT, and in national team management IAN LADYMAN: The Premier League title race went to the wire, it is not boring compared to other European leagues! - Listen to the It's All Kicking Off! podcast

Trevor Sinclair has shared his thoughts on his dismissal from the BBC after he was convicted of drink driving, common assault, and criminal damage in 2018.

The former West Ham winger took up a role in punditry on the heels of his retirement in 2015, and was a frequent contributor to a number of football programmes for the broadcaster.

But in 2017, Sinclair injured a woman driving while drunk in Lytham St Annes in Lancashire, and was subsequently charged after urinating in a police car and racially abusing an officer, calling him a 'white ****'.

In the wake of his conviction, the former Manchester City player received a 20-month driving ban, 15 hours of unpaid work, and ordered to pay £500 to the officer in question.

At the time, the BBC stated that Sinclair was 'not scheduled' to appear on any more of their programmes, and the ex-professional has now spoken of his regret about driving under the influence.

Trevor Sinclair has discussed his 2017 drink driving incident on a new podcast appearance

The former West Ham winger (pictured left in 2003) moved into punditry after his retirement

The 51-year-old worked on a number of BBC programmes during his stint at the broadcaster

'I've got no time for anyone that gets behind the wheel after drinking and I did that,' Sinclair told the Ben Heath Podcast. 'So I lost my job with the BBC.

'I was driving carefully, seeing the girl kind of get out and as soon as I clipped her, I thought - everything just went dark,' he added, holding his hands up to his face.

'And then I waited for the police and said, "I've been drinking, bang to rights."'

Later that year, Sinclair spoke to Mail Sport about the incident and said of the charge of racial abuse that he had had the choice during proceedings of: 'accept it and get it dealt with quickly by magistrates, or I could challenge it and go to Crown Cout, have the big trial, put my family through more of it'.

Sinclair chose the latter option in a bid to 'protect his family', and this week, he spoke a little more freely on the topic.

'I've never abused anyone for  any kind of colour reason in my life,' he added in the video clip.

Sinclair stressed that he would have done things differently had the night taken place again.

'BBC obviously didn't want to know anymore after that. Obviously, I regret that,' Sinclair added.

For his unpaid work sentence, Sinclair spent his time working at an Oxfam charity shop and claimed that he 'loved every minute' of the experience to talk to customers., adding that: 'the locals were great with me'.

After leaving the BBC, Sinclair later took up a punditry role at talkSPORT, but was relieved of his duties following a controversial tweet shared in the wake of the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

He claimed 'black and brown' people should not mourn the monarch because racism was allowed to 'thrive' during her reign.

After being suspended by the BBC, Sinclair took up a role at talkSPORT which also ended in controversial circumstances

'Racism was outlawed in England in the 60's & it's been allowed to thrive so why should black and brown mourn!!' Sinclair wrote in a post on Twitter that was deleted a day later.

Sinclair later wrote an apology message, but the broadcaster opted to uphold the suspension.

The 51-year-old has since taken up a management position, announcing in January that he was taking up the mantle of assistant coach for India's men's national team.