Former Rangers player jailed over cocaine haul

Steven Blair was arrested last October after officers swooped on his car in Hamilton, Lanarkshire.

A £410,000 haul of cocaine was discovered - including a package of the class A drug he had hidden in his underwear.

The debt-ridden 28-year-old turned to crime after a failed football career that had once saw him tipped for stardom.

As a teenager, Blair was on the books of Rangers where he was compared to then Ibrox skipper Barry Ferguson.

He was let go in 2002, but was quickly snapped up by Newcastle United, who beat off interest from English Premiership rivals Arsenal.

However, it is believed he never made the first team before returning to Scotland where he latterly worked as a scaffolder.

Blair now faces a lengthy jail sentence after pleading guilty at the High Court in Glasgow to being concerned in the supply of cocaine.

A judge remanded the first-offender and he will learn his fate next month.

The court heard how Blair appeared “extremely nervous” and “stuttered” when police spoke to him last October 2.

Officers initially found one package in the car and the ex-footballer said: “That’s coke, mate.”

A second parcel was then discovered in the vehicle before Blair, of the city’s Castlemilk, was searched at a police station.

It was there he confessed he had more of the drug concealed in his underwear.

The court heard it was accepted Blair had been acting as a courier for the cocaine that day.

Tony McGlennan, defending, said Blair had been a man of “good character”, but that latterly he had got into debt due to gambling.

The lawyer added Blair borrowed money from “underworld” figures, however was later unable to repay the cash.

Mr McGlennan: “His involvement here, therefore, was to seek cancellation of that debt.”

Judge Lord Burns deferred sentencing for reports.