A former semi-professional footballer claimed he had forgot he had cocaine on him when he tried to board a plane to Ibizia.

Andre Trenton, from Medway, was preparing to fly out to the Spanish party island from Gatwick Airport last month.

But police were alerted when he tried to go through passport control as a warrant had been issued for his arrest after he breached a crown court order he’d been given for previous drug offences.

As the former Dartford and Ebbsfleet footballer waited to board his plane, officers from Kent Police turned up at the airport in Crawley, West Sussex, to arrest him.

The 25-year-old was then searched and one deal bag of cocaine was found in his bag and four others were found in the pocket of a pair of shorts in his luggage.

Trenton was further arrested and told officers he forgot he had the drugs on him and that it must have been left over from a weekend of partying.

Trenton, of Malvern Close, Gillingham, had previously been accused of causing the death of Georgia Mann by careless driving.

Georgia died after Trenton’s car was hit on the A249 slip road in Bobbing, near Sittingbourne. A jury found him not guilty.

Now, he has been charged with being in possession of a Class A drug and admitted the offence when he appeared in the dock at Medway Magistrates’ Court on August 23.

Prosecutor Christina Rowberry told the court the five deal bags had contained a total of 3.27 grams of the drug and Trenton had been stopped from leaving the country at the airport on July 24.

She added: “He was at the gate (boarding gate) in the airport and Kent Police arrived and arrested him on that warrant. Some bags of cocaine were found on his person.

“He made a comment to officers that it must have been left over from the weekend.”

The court also heard Trenton had been brought before crown court last month over breaching his community order by failing to turn up for some appointments with probation, and had the order extended as a result.

He had been given the two year community order in January 2022 at Maidstone Crown Court where he had been ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work after admitting six drugs charges, including four of intending to supply 2.8 kilos of cannabis-flavoured toffee crumble, cannabis resin and oil and ketamine to his friends.

In court last week, Sara Haroon, defending, said her client was now playing football for Rochester City FC, and had left his packing for the holiday to the last minute and had just forgotten the cocaine was in his bag and in the pocket of his shorts.

Ms Haroon added: “He is still on the two-year-community order and he’s clean and fit to work and is now a plumber in Rochester. He is earning £1,400 a month.”

The bench also heard, since admitting the breaches on his order, he was now doing OK on it.

Magistrates decided to place Trenton on a conditional discharge for 12 months for the latest offence and he was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £26 as well as £85 costs.

Chairman of the bench, Siobhan Draper said: “We warn you, if you commit any other offences in the next 12 months, we will revisit this. You need to stay out of trouble.”