BoxRec

A DRUGS courier was ordered to drop off 5kg of cannabis to a "wee guy" who was an ex-boxer, a court heard yesterday.
Paul Weir, 35, a former light-flyweight boxing hero, was arrested by drug squad officers with three other men following a police sting operation in the car park of the Crowood House Hotel, North Lanarkshire, in May last year.
Weir, a double world champion, of Cumbernauld, appeared at Glasgow High Court. He denies one charge of supplying a Class B drug.
James Rankin, 39, of Grangemouth, who initially denied two counts of supplying cannabis, today pleaded guilty and gave evidence in the trial.
Two other men, Harold Mitchell, 62, of Wemyss Bay, Renfrewshire, and Gerald Ferguson, 46, of Glasgow, both deny charges of supplying cannabis.
Rankin said he had been storing cannabis for a local drug lord when he had received a telephone call instructing him to drive to the hotel car park, off the A80 in Muirhead. He said he knew the identity of the man who gave him the instructions but could not name him for fear he would be attacked.
Referring to the night of the incident on 17 May, 2002, he said: "I was just told to deliver it to a wee baldy guy in a Golf. I was told he was an ex-boxer."
He added that these instructions were changed at the last minute and he was told to find a "big fella with a beard" in a Renault Laguna.
The jury was played a tape of the police interview with Weir in which he admitted driving his wife’s VW Golf to the car park.
Detective Constable Scott McLaughlan, who was conducting the interview, said: "I think you were in a pre-arranged meeting to take receipt of a controlled drug."
Weir replied: "Herbal."
Mr McLaughlan said: "It’s still cannabis."
The case was adjourned.

Weir latest:

A DOUBLE world boxing champion facing a drugs charge offered cash to a man to take the blame for the crime, a court heard yesterday.

Former WBO mini-flyweight and light-flyweight title holder Paul Weir, 36, offered to pay "a wage" to another man, also arrested in a police swoop in May last year, a jury at the High Court in Glasgow was told.

Weir, of Dunning Drive, Cumbernauld, was arrested by drug squad officers who found five kilograms of herbal cannabis following a raid in the car park of the Crow Wood House Hotel in Muirhead, North Lanarkshire.

Weir, Harold Mitchell, 62, of Wemyss Bay, Inverclyde, and Gerald Ferguson, 46, of Riverview Gardens, Glasgow, all deny one count of supplying the class B drug.

Giving evidence in his own defence, Ferguson, a former car sales manager, claimed Weir had offered him money if he took the rap. He said: "Paul Weir approached me about six or seven months ago saying that if I took the blame for him I would get a wage."

Defence counsel Willie Thom asked Ferguson: "He was asking you to take the rap?"

"Yes," replied Ferguson.

Ferguson told the court he was a boxing fan and had known Weir for about four years.

He said he had been drinking wine at home on the evening of 17 May 2002, when he was called by Weir and offered cash to accompany him to the car park and pick up a batch of counterfeit DVDs.

Mr Thom asked if there was any mention of drugs, to which Ferguson replied: "No."

Ferguson said: "I thought it was easy money. He mentioned a couple of hundred quid.

"He was rather anxious for me to show him where (the hotel) was. I got the impression that he wanted someone to go with him."

But six police cars swooped on the hotel car park and Weir is alleged to have said "Oh no ... Oh no."

Police found a bin bag with 5kg of the drug, worth an estimated £42,500 on the streets, in Weir’s car, the court heard.

Detective Constable Garry Muir, a police drugs expert, said the herbal cannabis could have been bought for £25,000 and sold for a profit of £17,500.

Asked by prosecutor Ronald Watson if the 5kg could be for someone’s personal use he replied: "No. It would last a single user 14 years. By that time most of it would have been past its sell-by date and been useless."

Detectives also found more than £2,000 in cash in Mitchell’s jacket and a further £745 in the pocket of a coat belonging to Weir, the court was told.

But under cross-examination by Alan Nicol, Weir’s defence advocate, it was put to Ferguson that he had attempted to persuade Weir to take the blame.

Mr Nicol said: "Rather than Paul Weir asking you to take the rap, I suggest the following. Your brother met him in (a restaurant) and he suggested, because you had suggested to your brother, that everyone was to say that this was to do with DVDs.

"And because (Weir) wouldn’t tell lies about what happened, the three of you decided to make out that Paul Weir was responsible for all of this."

"No. No that is a complete and total lie," replied Ferguson.

The trial before Lord Wheatley continues today.

He's looking a bit heavier these days...