Liverpool prodigy turned drugs boss jailed for 13 years

Footballer handled huge haul of cocaine

- HOLLIE BONE

A FORMER Liverpool football prodigy has been jailed for 13 years after running an international drugs operation with his gang boss brother.

Jamie Cassidy, 46, and brother Jonathan, 50, made millions smuggling hundreds of kilos of cocaine into the UK hidden in modified vehicles.

At 12, Jamie looked destined for great things. He was chosen for the FA School of Excellence over Steven Gerrard and played alongside pals Jamie Carragher and Michael Owen in Liverpool's first-ever FA Youth Cup win.

At 15, he was the England Under-16s' leading goalscorer and under the wing of the three Lions boss Glenn Hoddle. But when leg injuries stalled his football career, he turned to crime.

The Cassidy brothers admitted shipping industrial amounts of cocaine to Liverpool via Amsterdam from various countries in South America.