A FORMER England international boxer from Bradford has been jailed for a cannabis supply crime.

George Bailey, 56, was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court today along with his 27-year-old son, Philip.

The pair were stopped on the M6 between Penrith and Carlisle, as they travelled north in a Vauxhall Corsa on 5th May last year.

Driver Philip Bailey was said to have acted as a criminal courier while his father supervised an illegal £2,500 cannabis cargo which weighed in at almost a quarter of a kilo.

This was found in the Corsa by police who also later recovered drug supply-related messages from George Bailey's phone.

Only cigarettes had initially been handed over to a PC who became suspicious after detecting the smell of drugs from the vehicle.

"The officer asked if there was any further cannabis in the car," said prosecutor Kim Whittlestone.

"George Bailey was noted as being nodding and smiling, and immediately ran off from the vehicle towards a nearby field.

"He was quickly caught."

The court heard he was a cannabis user with previous drug trafficking offences on his record.

He used the drug, said his lawyer, Greg Hoare, to ease the pain of a bad back.

"He has a spinal injury which involves dislocation of various discs, and arose when he was a boxer in his younger years," said Mr Hoare.

"He was quite a talented boxer, and boxed for England."

However, latterly, he had resorted to supplying drugs to fund his cannabis use.

George Bailey, of Salcombe Place, Holme Wood, was jailed for 27 months having admitted possessing the class B drug with intent to supply it.

"You were the prime mover here," he was told by Judge Peter Davies.

Philip Bailey, of the same address, admitted a charge of being concerned in the supply of cannabis.

It was stressed that he was not a drug user, and that his "difficult background" was rooted in the abuse of alcohol. He did not receive any money for acting as a courier through Cumbria.

He received a six-month jail term which was suspended for two years. He must also undergo alcohol treatment and rehabilitation requirements.