Former boxer from Stourbridge jailed following arrest for drug offences

Lennox Clarke, from Stourbridge, was sentenced to six years and four months in prison after Gloucestershire Police found he had met Cheltenham drug dealer Ben Goff at least 12 times.

The 33-year-old former British and Commonwealth super-middleweight champion had been convicted previously for supplying Class B drugs in 2012 and his arrest came following information being received about suspicious activity and drug dealing happening in Cheltenham in autumn 2023.

Gloucestershire Police had said that suspicion had been raised by the number of times Goff and Clarke had met in the West Midlands, with Goff being sentenced after selling drugs collected from Clarke to his Gloucestershire customers.

Clarke then went on the run for a number of months, fleeing to Ireland, Thailand and Mexico before being arrested on his return to the UK.

Detective Insp Matt Phillips, of Gloucestershire Police, said: "Just after Goff got arrested, Clarke decided to go on the run for a number of months, initially staying in local hotels for a couple of nights, we think, trying to understand whether the police were coming for him."

Lennox will serve 317 days less in custody for time spent on curfew.

Phillips said he hoped Clarke's sentencing would give people who are concerned about drug offences in their local area the confidence to come forward as officers would "take it seriously".