Ex-boxer supplied cannabis

Paul Weir was found guilty by a jury at the High Court in Glasgow

Former world flyweight boxing champion Paul Weir has been found guilty of supplying a form of herbal cannabis.

Weir, 36, from Cumbernauld, was caught by police, along with Gerald Ferguson of Glasgow and Harold Mitchell of Weymss Bay, in the car park of a hotel on the outskirts of the city.

Police had earlier told the trial how they had watched the group of men before moving in to make arrests and of how they found a black bin bag containing the cannabis in Weir's silver Golf car.

Officers from the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency seized 5kg of the drug, valued at more than £42,000.

The court heard how Weir became involved in the drug scene to make cash after his business selling boxing gear and health food failed and he was left living on the earnings of his second wife.

Sentence deferred

The jury was told that Weir had tried to pass the blame for the bungled handover onto Ferguson and later offered him cash if he took responsibility for the crime.

He denied knowing anything of the drug deal and claimed he was called by Ferguson, who asked him to pick him up from his flat and then drive to the hotel to meet someone.

The jury took just over three hours to find the three men guilty following the week-long trial before Lord Wheatley.

The jury was unanimous in finding Weir and Ferguson guilty of dealing in the drug and Mitchell was convicted by a majority verdict.

Sentencing of the former boxer, who was crowned WBO light flyweight champion in 1994, was deferred for three weeks.

A fourth man, James Rankin, of Grangemouth, had earlier admitted supplying and dealing in cannabis.