The father of England and Chelsea defender John Terry was spared jail on Tuesday for supplying cocaine to an undercover reporter after a judge said he was a victim of entrapment.
Edward Terry, the 56-year-old father of the former England captain, admitted supplying 3.5 grammes of the drug to the journalist from the News of the World when he appeared before magistrates last month.
"Employees of a national newspaper decided to mount what was in effect a sting operation against Mr. Terry to ascertain whether he could or would supply class A drugs," prosecutor Paul Scothern told Basildon Crown Court on Tuesday.
The court heard the reporter, Dan Sanderson, had befriended Terry at a wine bar he frequented near his home in Essex, over a six-week period.
On November 5 last year, Sanderson, who was posing as a chauffeur, asked Terry where he could buy cocaine for his boss and his friend.
Terry said he could supply it and agreed a fee of 120 pounds while he also asked for 40 pounds for facilitating the deal. He left the bar and returned about 15 minutes later with the cocaine, the Press Association reported.
"Mr. Terry would not have acted in the way he did and committed this offence but for being enticed by the journalist who befriends Mr. Terry, meets with him on a couple of dozen occasions at the minimum, simply for a tabloid story," Terry's lawyer Neil Saunders said.
Terry was sentenced to a suspended prison term of six months and ordered to do 100 hours of community service.
"It is a very, very clear case of entrapment solely to create a newspaper story," said Judge Christopher Mitchell.
John Terry, 29, was stripped of the England captaincy in February following newspaper reports about his private life.
Edward Terry, the 56-year-old father of the former England captain, admitted supplying 3.5 grammes of the drug to the journalist from the News of the World when he appeared before magistrates last month.
"Employees of a national newspaper decided to mount what was in effect a sting operation against Mr. Terry to ascertain whether he could or would supply class A drugs," prosecutor Paul Scothern told Basildon Crown Court on Tuesday.
The court heard the reporter, Dan Sanderson, had befriended Terry at a wine bar he frequented near his home in Essex, over a six-week period.
On November 5 last year, Sanderson, who was posing as a chauffeur, asked Terry where he could buy cocaine for his boss and his friend.
Terry said he could supply it and agreed a fee of 120 pounds while he also asked for 40 pounds for facilitating the deal. He left the bar and returned about 15 minutes later with the cocaine, the Press Association reported.
"Mr. Terry would not have acted in the way he did and committed this offence but for being enticed by the journalist who befriends Mr. Terry, meets with him on a couple of dozen occasions at the minimum, simply for a tabloid story," Terry's lawyer Neil Saunders said.
Terry was sentenced to a suspended prison term of six months and ordered to do 100 hours of community service.
"It is a very, very clear case of entrapment solely to create a newspaper story," said Judge Christopher Mitchell.
John Terry, 29, was stripped of the England captaincy in February following newspaper reports about his private life.
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