Gascoigne checks into rehab

London - Former England midfielder Paul Gascoigne checked into a rehab clinic and thus failed to show up in court on Thursday to be sentenced for drink-driving charges.

The 43-year-old Gascoigne, who could face a jail term, will now be sentenced on December 9 after Newcastle Magistrates' Court was told that he had checked into a rehab clinic in the south of England.

Gascoigne, whose career was overshadowed by off-field problems and drinking, admitted at an earlier hearing that he was four-times over the legal alcohol limit when he was caught driving erratically in Newcastle on October 8.