A PROMISING rugby player’s career is in ruins after he was caught distributing thousands of pounds worth of cocaine to dealers.

Southampton-born Robbie-Lee English, a player for Locks Heath Pumas, got “sucked in to” a life of supplying the import-grade, class A substance after he was medically forced out of work, a court heard.

The 27-year-old, who had been scouted to play in the sport’s third tier, had three ounces of cocaine on him when he was pulled over by officers on Lawn Road, Southampton, as well as £4,100 in cash which had been pushed underneath his car seat.

English cried as Judge Peter Henry sent the promising athlete to prison for three years and four months at Southampton Crown Court.

In total, the drugs seized from his car and his home in Park Gate, Fareham, had a wholesale value of more than £10,000, prosecutor Roderick Blaine said.

English admitted turning to delivering the drugs as he struggled to keep up with payments on his rented flat.

Too embarrassed to turn to his family or friends, English, a former scaffolder, reaped the financial gains from his new role in the drug chain, for which he was paid £500 a week, the court heard.

Khalid Missouri, mitigating, explained English had turned his life around since being caught on October 10, 2017, by moving back into his parents’ home, taking up meditation and giving up alcohol and drugs.

Mr Missouri added the hardest part for English since his arrest had been telling his family about the incident and “seeing the heartbreak in his father’s eyes”.

English admitted possessing a class A drug with intent to supply and possessing a class B drug, having been caught with cannabis when he was arrested.

Judge Henry said: “You were sucked in to doing this sort of thing.”