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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Cocaine smuggler cricketer guilty | Cocaine smuggler cricketer guilty |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Former England cricketer Chris Lewis has been found guilty of smuggling cocaine into Britain. | Former England cricketer Chris Lewis has been found guilty of smuggling cocaine into Britain. |
| He carried it into the country in his cricket bag on a flight from St Lucia but was stopped at Gatwick Airport, a jury at Croydon Crown Court heard. | He carried it into the country in his cricket bag on a flight from St Lucia but was stopped at Gatwick Airport, a jury at Croydon Crown Court heard. |
| Cans of fruit and vegetable juice seized by officials last December were found to contain dissolved cocaine with a street value of more than £140,000. | Cans of fruit and vegetable juice seized by officials last December were found to contain dissolved cocaine with a street value of more than £140,000. |
| The jury is continuing to deliberate on his co-accused Chad Kirnon. | The jury is continuing to deliberate on his co-accused Chad Kirnon. |
| Lewis, 41, of Bruce Road in Brent, north London, had denied the charge, claiming to have been on an innocent holiday in St Lucia. | Lewis, 41, of Bruce Road in Brent, north London, had denied the charge, claiming to have been on an innocent holiday in St Lucia. |
| Mr Kirnon, 27, a former basketball player of Carnegie Street, Islington, north London, was stopped by customs officers after returning to the UK on the same flight as Lewis, on 8 December. | Mr Kirnon, 27, a former basketball player of Carnegie Street, Islington, north London, was stopped by customs officers after returning to the UK on the same flight as Lewis, on 8 December. |
| Cigarette papers | |
| Giving evidence in his defence at his trial, Lewis had said he did not even know cocaine could be converted into a liquid form. | Giving evidence in his defence at his trial, Lewis had said he did not even know cocaine could be converted into a liquid form. |
| He insisted he had no idea there were drugs in his cricket bag until he was stopped at the airport, saying he thought he was carrying fruit juice. | He insisted he had no idea there were drugs in his cricket bag until he was stopped at the airport, saying he thought he was carrying fruit juice. |
| He also rejected allegations that he had admitted smuggling cocaine on several previous occasions. | He also rejected allegations that he had admitted smuggling cocaine on several previous occasions. |
| The court heard customs officers seized five tins of juice stashed inside Lewis's Puma cricket bag, which were found to contain a brown liquid which smelt of chemicals and turned out to be 100% pure cocaine. | |
| Traces of cannabis residue were also found in his luggage on a silver grinder on cigarette papers, which were tucked into a paperback book. | |
| Lewis had stated he was travelling alone and that he had packed his luggage himself. | |
| Judge Nicholas Ainley adjourned sentencing and asked jurors to continue with their deliberations in the case of Kirnon. | |
| All-rounder Lewis, who was born in Guyana, played 32 Tests and 53 one-day internationals for England. | |
| He played county cricket for Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Surrey before retiring with a persistent hip injury in 2000, though he rejoined Surrey in 2008 to play in the Twenty20 tournament. |