Ex-Man City footballer, 25, who was caught with stash of drugs when it fell from his underpants is jailed
A FORMER Manchester City footballer has been jailed after hiding his illegal drugs stash in his underwear.
Max Norman, 25, who says he played for Manchester City and Tranmere Rovers, was caught three times in two months with banned substances.
One of those times he had stashed the drugs in his underwear – only for them to fall out in front of police during a search.
On Monday afternoon, a judge at the Liverpool Crown Court sent him down for four-and-a-half years after he earlier admitted drug possession charges.
His LinkedIn profile lists him as having been a youth player at City and Wigan Athletic before signing professionally with clubs including Tranmere, Morecambe and Turkish outfit Alanyaspor.
Merseyside police only searched Norman’s house after his second arrest, where they found heroin, cocaine, and crack cocaine worth more than £50,000 within an armchair.
CCTV footage was also said to have shown Norman at a drug house where he would drop off a bag.
The first arrest came on September 7, 2021, when he was the passenger in a Vauxhall Vectra which was pulled over on Crosby Road South, Seaforth, Liverpool.
He was arrested following a struggle, following which he was searched with the contraband falling out.
72 wraps of white powder, seven wraps of a brown substance and £246.55 in cash were found.
It amounted to 7.58g of crack cocaine and 1.1g of heroin worth a total of £770.
Messages found on the devices also indicated that they had been used for dealing.
Norman claimed to officers he was “just a user”, but he was subsequently released.
In the second arrest on October 14, police discovered drugs, £180 cash and seized the phones of both men.
Then, on October 27, 2021, officers searched an address on Rumford Street in Liverpool city centre – where they found his stash.
His lawyer, Stuart McNally, said that his client had been a “very talented footballer who played at a high level both in the United Kingdom and Europe”.
McNally explained his actions on a brain injury he sustained in a car crash.
He said: “He is a highly intelligent young man, capable of achieving. He does appreciate that these are serious offences. The defendant knows the consequences.
“He has a supportive family. He has employment available. When he is released, there is some stability. The prison experience, for him, has been stark. It has been chastening.”
Norman also suffers from ADHD and Tourettes.
On his LinkedIn, the centre-forward described himself as a “free agent” for the last six years.
He had five previous convictions for nine offences.