Actor Matthias Schoenaerts (47) has been sentenced to 6 months in prison, a €4,000 fine and a one-year driving ban for driving without a valid licence. This was decided by the police court in Beringen. Schoenaerts was arrested last week in Pelt after allegedly refusing to take a breathalyser test.
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Six months' imprisonment and a one-year driving ban: actor Matthias Schoenaerts convicted of driving without a licence
Colin Clapson
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Police stopped Matthias Schoenaerts, who was riding on his motorbike, in Pelt (Limburg) on 5 and on 21 April 2024, while driving without a valid driving licence. The actor had been banned from driving in Antwerp in September 2021 on account of drug use while driving and had to retake his compulsory 'recovery tests' and exams, but had failed to do so.
Schoenaerts has already been convicted by a police court 11 times in the past. He did not appear in Beringen today and was sentenced to six months' imprisonment in absentia. He will also receive a fine of €4,000, a one-year driving ban and will have to retake all his tests.
This does not mean that the actor will have to go to prison immediately. He can still lodge an appeal.
'Uncooperative' Schoenaerts's conviction does not relate to the events of last week, when he was arrested in Pelt during a police check for allegedly refusing to take a breathalyser test. Again, he was not in possession of a valid driving licence and behaved in an uncooperative manner.