Star was hit by driver about to be deported

A passport fraudster who knocked rock star Mark Knopfler off his motorbike in a horrifying smash which could have ended his career has been found guilty of careless driving.

The Dire Straits guitarist was hurled through the air when Monica Beltran, 23, failed to see him in her rear-view mirror as she turned right into a petrol station along the Embankment in March last year.

The guitarist collided with the driver's door, breaking his collarbone, shoulder and seven ribs. Knopfler, 54, landed on his back while his 800cc Honda touring bike skidded out of control.

Drivers stopped to help and he was taken by ambulance to St Thomas's Hospital - but even after a year of physiotherapy he still suffers restricted movement.

Beltran, of Camberwell , was found guilty of careless driving by a judge at Marylebone Magistrates Court, who spoke of his frustration at not being able to fully punish her because she was due to be deported on a false passport conviction.

Beltran, who used a Spanish interpreter during the hearing, had already been sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment over the passport offence and has an August release date. It is believed the mother of one, whose husband was in court, is originally from Ecuador.

District Judge Michael Snow said: "In sentencing you I'm really handicapped by your situation. I cannot really pass any sort of meaningful sentence upon you.

"I cannot add to the terms of your imprisonment and any disqualification is largely irrelevant because you shall be deported at the end of your current sentence."

The judge sentenced her to a ?250 fine or a one-day prison sentence-to run concurrently to her existing jail term. He said that her licence is to be endorsed with six penalty points.

There would be no order for costs because Beltran, who was driving a red Fiat Punto on a provisional licence with her brother in the passenger seat, did not have any means, and any compensation claim would be left to the civil court where a claim has already been launched.

Mr Knopfler was unable to play the guitar for seven months and needed more than a year of physiotherapy after the crash.

Mr Snow did not believe Beltran's claims that she indicated, looked in her mirrors and slowed down as she turned right.

He said: "I am satisfied so that I am sure that the defendant is wrong in her recollection.

" I have no doubt that her turn was impulsive and she did not check her mirrors or signal and that she gave no considerationto the whereabouts or welfare-of the vehicles around her. "Her driving fell well below that of a reasonable, competent and prudent driver."

Knopfler headed one of the biggest-selling bands of the Eighties. Dire Straits' iconic album Brothers In Arms made the bandmembers international stars.

Their beginnings were not so auspicious. The band was initially called the Cafe Racers, but a friend who had observed their sorry financial condition suggested that they should call themselves Dire Straits.

After scraping together ?120 to record a demo they were spotted by BBC Radio London DJ Charlie Gillett in the mid-1970s before reaching the height of their fame in 1985 when Brothers In Arms topped the UK and US charts.