Norway's Northug jailed for seven months for driving offences

By Philip O'Connor

OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian double Olympic champion Petter Northug has been sentenced to seven months in prison and banned from driving for life after being found guilty of serious traffic offences and possession of narcotics by an Oslo court on Monday.

The 34-year-old, who won two gold medals at the Vancouver Games in 2010 and is one of Norway's best-known and most popular athletes, was arrested in August after driving his F-type Jaguar car at speeds of over 200km per hour.

Police found other videos in Northug's mobile phone of him speeding that he had filmed while driving.

He passed a drugs test following his arrest but during a subsequent search of his home police discovered six grams of cocaine and small amounts of other controlled substances.

Northug, who was convicted of drink-driving in 2014 and admitted to having problems with drugs and alcohol in a news conference following his arrest in August, said that he accepts the verdict of the court and will not appeal.

(Reporting by Philip O'Connor in Stockholm, additional reporting by Terje Solsvik in Oslo; Editing by Christian Radnedge)