Page 10 QQQ Daily Mail, Tuesday, August 27, 2019
September 2017 he happily admitted
drinking during five-day Test matches,
saying: ‘Why not? We’re grown men,
go out for dinner, have a few pints. I’m
26, not 14. I don’t have to drink Diet
Coke with dinner.’
A few days after making those com-
ments, Stokes was charged with affray
after being videoed brawling with two
men outside a Bristol nightclub while
on England duty.
When the case came to court, he
denied being drunk (but admitted to
having consumed six vodkas) and
argued that he’d been coming to the
aid of two gay men who were being
subjected to homophobic abuse.
The jury agreed and in August 2018
acquitted him.
An England disciplinary panel sub-
sequently found Stokes guilty of
bringing the game into disrepute,
fined him £30,000 and suspended him
for eight games, which had by then
already been served.
His reputation wasn’t helped, during
the extended kerfuffle, by the emer-
gence of a social media video showing
Stokes mocking the disabled son of
glamour model Katie
Price — for which he offered a second
grovelling apology.TATTOO FOR HIS FAMILY
SToKES credits wife Clare with
returning him to the straight and
narrow — and allowing this
Summer’s heroics.
The couple met in Manchester in
2010 when he was a 19-year-old county
cricketer and she was at university
studying to be a teacher.
They got engaged in 2013, the year
first child Layton was born, and were
married four years later.
Although the ceremony, which was
attended by Alastair Cook, Joe Root,
and several England team-mates,
took place while the groom was still
under police investigation for the
Bristol nightclub fracas, Stokes has
recalled: ‘Getting married was one of
the greatest days I’ve ever had. We got
married at Clare’s local village church,
near Weston-super-Mare, where she
had grown up.’’
The couple, who also have a daugh-
ter called Libby, live in a five-bedroom
house in County Durham, which they
bought from former Sunderland foot-
baller (and convicted paedophile)
Adam Johnson for £1.7million.
Stokes, whose career earnings have
been estimated at nearly £10 million,
pays tribute to his family by way of a
tattoo, covering a large portion
of his back.
‘It represents my family; two cubs
with a lioness and a lion,’ he has said.
‘My wife is a “lioness”. She really looks
after the kids when I am away and has
put her career on hold for it.’
on his bowling arm, he meanwhile
boasts an image of a phoenix rising
from the ashes.
‘obviously, the symbolism with the
phoenix is that if it gets put down, it
gets back up and comes back
stronger,’ he has said.
Given the events of recent days and
weeks, it seems entirely appropriate.FROM PREVIOUS PAGE
Nelson’s
Column
170ft
The current
maximum height
for masts82ft
(25m)Proposed
maximum
height
for masts165ft
(50m)80%of UK
Parliamentary
constituency areas
suffer from patchy
coverage.TOWER WOULD NEARLY TOP NELSON’S COLUMN
THE way is being cleared for
supersize mobile masts of up to
165ft (50m) high to drive the
roll-out of high-speed 5G mobile
internet services and eliminate
signal blackspots.
Masts this high are already allowed
in some European countries and are
double the current 82ft (25m) restric-
tion in place in the UK.
Firms would also be allowed to put
Coming to a village
near you, phone mast
that stands 165f t tall
By Sean Poulter
Consumer Affairs Editor
But they are bound to be con-
troversial. The erection of mobile
masts often provokes protests
as many view them as unsightly,
coupled with claims – rejected
by medical experts – that the
signals may harm health.
The proposals, which relate to
England, have been outlined by
Digital, Culture, Media and
Sport Secretary Nicky Morgan
and housing minister Esther
McVey. Wales and Scotland are
also considering taller masts.
The introduction of 5G – the
next generation of mobile inter-
net technology – will require
thousands of new masts, with
many on lampposts as well as
supersize versions for large areas,
particularly in rural locations.
Ministers say mobile networks
should be allowed to strengthenand increase the size of thou-
sands of existing masts ‘without
prior approval to enable sites to
be upgraded for 5G’.
Miss Morgan said: ‘We’re
committed to securing wide-
spread mobile coverage and
must make sure we have the
right planning laws to give the
UK the best infrastructure to
stay ahead.’ A source in the Cul-ture department said: ‘We have
not proposed a specific new
height limit – that would be
something for us to consult
further on.
‘We want evidence from mobile
operators of the positive impact
these changes could have and
what measures industry could
offer to mitigate the impact of
any new infrastructure.’radio equipment cabinets on protected
land without prior approval under a radi-
cal liberalisation of planning laws.
The plans have been presented as part
of Boris Johnson’s flagship policy to
improve digital connections.