Top Premier League club's chef jailed after being caught with Ksh 1.4m (£10,000) of heroin

A chef who worked at the Premier League club Aston Villa has been jailed after he was caught with £10,000 of heroin.

Antonio Ventura was caught with the stash of drugs in his bedsit in Perry Barr, Birmingham.

The 36-year-old Portuguese national was described as a hard working, trustworthy and reliable man who had been employed at Villa as a waiter and chef for nine years.

But a 20-year-addiction to heroin saw him fall into debt prompting him to work bagging up 150g of heroin into street-deal sized packages, Birmingham Crown Court heard.

According to the Birmingham Mail, Ventura, of The Broadway, Perry Barr, played a “significant role” in the supply chain.

Jailing him for four years Recorder William Mousley QC said: “You were trusted and your involvement was at a level higher than a street dealer.

“I have reached the conclusion your role in the supply of Class A drugs was significant.”

Police raided Ventura’s bedsit on October 10 last year where he was found dividing the heroin from blocks into smaller bags.

Alex Warren, prosecuting, said the total weight of the recovered drugs was 150g worth around £10,000 on the streets of Birmingham.

Mr Warren said: “He accepted he was bagging and wrapping the drug up for a dealer who he knew as ‘H’.

“He said he would have been paid £100 for his work and that he had agreed to do that because he was struggling financially.”

Ventura, who earned £800 a month as a waiter and chef at Villa pleaded guilty to possession of heroin with intent to supply.

The court heard Ventura arrived in the UK in 2004 and had not been in trouble with the law during that time.

However in his native Portugal records showed he had been made the subject of several drug rehabilitation orders.

Recorder Mousley said Ventura’s own struggles with drugs meant he was well aware of the results of his actions.

He said: “You should know as well as anyone the misery caused by the peddling of heroin on the streets, but that was something you were happy to promote.

“You were motivated by financial advantage and were aware of the scale of the operation with which you were involved.”