Paul William Venis realised cocaine was “not part of the fighter’s diet” and forgot he had a quantity of the Class A drug

Paul William Venis realised cocaine was “not part of the fighter’s diet” and forgot he had a quantity of the Class A drug, the court heard.

He admitted possession of 3.76g of cocaine, worth £150 on the street, three tablets of diazepam and a tiny amount of herbal cannabis.

He told police a white powder found in a bag was caffeine. When it was revealed to be cocaine, he said he’d forgotten it was there and it was the remnants of a party.

His barrister Tom Mitchell said yesterday: “He understands the error of his ways.

“He shouldn’t be engaging in drugs because he is in fact fairly locally notable as a professional fighter.

“He has a professional fight coming up, two towards the end of this year for which he’s training now, hence the reason why he’s using caffeine.

“He shouldn’t have been using cocaine. It’s not part of the fighter’s diet at all.

“Indeed, he’d forgotten he had cocaine at the time of the police raid at the house, which demonstrates how little it had been used.

“The proceedings have given him a proper shot across his bows.”



Read More http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2010/09/29/pro-fighter-caught-with-drugs-is-spared-jail-84229-27363739/#ixzz10y65FuOW