Boxer Saunders denies drugs involvement
British Olympic boxing star Bradley Saunders today denied being involved in the dealing of Class A drugs.
Saunders, 22, said police with a search warrant and sniffer dog burst into his home as he relaxed with his girlfriend after a morning training session.
He was released without charge and has been bailed to return to Spennymoor police station in the New Year.
Speaking from his parents’ three-bedroom home in Cragside, Sedgefield, County Durham, Saunders, a father of one, said: “It was about midday; I’d been out for a morning run and had gone back to bed to watch TV with my girlfriend, Stephanie.
“All of a sudden the police were at the door. There was about seven of them, at least, and a dog. They said they had a warrant.
“I asked them what did they want and told them to wait so that I could ring my mam, because I wanted a witness, but before I could they all burst in.
“I shouted to Stephanie to go with some of them while I kept an eye on the others.
“They’d finished going through my house and they were on their way out when they went through to the back garden.
“I’m having the house done up and the back garden is being stripped, so there is nothing out there but dirt and grass.
“Right next to the back gate was a sheet of white plastic, like a bin bag, and when they lifted it up underneath was a kind of metal biscuit tin just laid on the grass. They opened it up said ’What’s this powder?’
“We were handcuffed and arrested and taken to Spennymoor police station, where we were each locked up and left in a cell for six hours. Stephanie was locked up in the cell next to me.
“I saw the duty solicitor and had to make a statement but there was not a lot I could say. Then I was released without charge and have been released on police bail until next year. They told me they’d had an anonymous telephone call tip-off.
“There was never anything in that garden. I know nothing about any drugs. I have never had a criminal record, I’ve never been done for drugs.
“My parents are devastated. My mum is very upset. I earn a decent living and have been getting paid since I was 13 years old for boxing. There is no reason for me to be involved in drugs.
“We’re a well-known family in Sedgefield but since my face has become better known I think I’ve become more of a target.
“Since the Olympics I’ve been the victim of quite a lot of crime. My house was burgled recently as my girlfriend and I slept – they let themselves into the house through the back and took her car keys.
“People get jealous. They can take against you.”
