Former world featherweight champion 'Prince' Naseem Hamed faces jail after he stunned a packed Sheffield Crown Court by pleading guilty to a charge of dangerous driving.

32-year-old Hamed, looking both portly and forlorn in the dock, was given conditional bail. Sentencing will be on May 12th after the case was adjourned for pre-sentence reports.

On May 2nd last year Hamed drove his £313,000 Mercedes SLR into a VW Golf, leaving Brian Burgen, the driver of the Golf, with life-threatening injuries. Mr Burgen's wife Claire was also badly injured in the smash.

Now thankfully out of danger, Mr Burgen was not in court to hear Hamed admit the offence as he was in hospital recovering from his most recent of several operations.

Astonishingly, Hamed's defence barrister, Martin Sharpe, argued that his client should be allowed to keep his driving licence until sentencing.

“He has a number of commitments in the interim which require him to drive, not for his own benefit but for charity.”

The remarkable request was greeted by derisive laughter from the victims' family and friends.

Judge Alan Goldsack QC, responded in barbed terms.

“He can perhaps afford a chauffeur if he needs it.”

The judge spelled out to Hamed that granting him conditional bail was not a sign that he would be treated leniently.

The guilty man was told not to take it as an indication “that you will receive anything other than a custodial sentence.”

By pleading guilty at this early stage, it is likely that the former boxer will receive full credit for his plea and thereby immediately receive a reduction of a third of any sentence handed down to him.

The maximum punishment for dangerous driving in the Crown Court is two years' imprisonment and a minimum of 12 months disqualification from driving.

Hamed, unaccompanied by family or friends, was the first person to leave the court after the hearing but seemed so stunned he couldn't manage to open the double doors outside the courtroom to enable his temporary escape.

Despite both doors being clearly labelled ‘push', Hamed tetchily tugged away until his barrister rescued him.

Presumably he'll have even greater difficulty getting through certain doors after May 12th.