A YOUNG footballer who turned up for his weekly training session at a local prison with a kilo of cannabis hidden in his sports bag has been jailed for nine months.
Liverpool Crown Court heard Stephen Duke was paid to hide the drugs in a toilet cistern for an inmate at Walton jail.
The 22-year-old Duke, who initially claimed he had found the package, was yesterday again visiting the jail - but this time as a prisoner serving a nine month sentence.
Duke, of Warbreck Moor, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to possessing the drug, with a wholesale value of £800, with intent to supply.
Miss Hannah Squire, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that on August 18 Duke arrived at the jail with a local football team to use the facilities for their weekly training practice.
When told that they were to be searched Duke admitted that he had "weed" in the bag and a packet containing a kilo of cannabis resin was found. He told prison officers he had found it, but when interviewed by police Duke said he had been approached by someone in a Fazakerley pub and asked to take drugs into the prison for £1,000.
Four days before he was caught an inmate telephoned him telling him to place it in a toilet cistern when he arrived.
Two days later a woman gave him the drugs and £500 and said he would get the rest of the cash after he had delivered it, said Miss Squire.
Michael Jones, defending, said: "It was a foolish enterprise and very naively and under some degree of pressure he became involved."
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