A MAN who organised charity boxing bouts has been jailed for three years after police found 29 bags of cocaine at a woman’s home.

Edward Lewis, 45, of Netherfields Crescent, Middlesbrough, was also said to have worked voluntarily with youngsters in the community.

But Teesside Crown Court heard that after separating from his partner he turned to buying drugs, despite being only on benefits.

Lewis’ fingerprints were found on the cocaine, which was worth a total of £1,400 – after a raid by police at the home of his co-defendant, Tanya Dawson, in Rowarth Road, Middlesbrough, on February 25.

Dawson, 53, said she had been paid £30 to store the drugs overnight, which Lewis had bought in bulk for himself and others close to him.

Lewis, who pleaded guilty to possession of a Class A drug with intent to supply, said he was not a drug dealer. His barrister, Andrew Turton, said he had began taking cocaine as a “coping mechanism” and had lost his way in life.

Nigel Soppitt, for Dawson, who admitted being concerned with the supply of Class A drugs, said she was a woman of previous good character who had been desperate for money.

Judge George Moorhouse told both defendants: “People who get embroiled in drugs at whatever level are committing a very serious offence.”

He jailed Lewis for three years. Dawson received a 12-month jail sentence, suspended for a year.