Leon Reid: Irish sprinter plans to continue career despite criminal conviction

Athletics Ireland told BBC Sport NI it is awaiting legal advice on Reid's situation, while Athletics Northern Ireland refused to comment

Irish Olympic sprinter Leon Reid aims to continue his athletics career despite his criminal conviction after being found guilty of allowing his flat to be used to produce crack cocaine.

Reid's agent Derry McVeigh says the athlete, 27, wants to race on.

"He will talk to Athletics Ireland and Athletics Northern Ireland," said McVeigh.

When contacted by BBC Sport NI on Monday, Athletics Ireland said it was awaiting legal advice on Reid's situation, while Athletics Northern Ireland would not comment at this stage.

"We've obviously been made aware of of it and the matter will be followed up but, at this stage, we're making no comment," said Athletics NI's interim chief executive Fergus Cooper.

Reid could be barred from World Championships

Reid's suspended sentence could rule him out of participation in this year's World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, because of the United States' travel entry rules concerning people with criminal convictions.

A packed summer of international competition includes the Commonwealth Games, where Reid clinched a 200m bronze medal for Northern Ireland in 2018, and the European Championships in Munich.

Asked about the potential of Reid being prevented from competing in Eugene, McVeigh replied: "We're just letting Leon decompress and talk to the governing bodies this week or next.

"We're leaving it with Athletics Ireland to deal with it, with regards to the things that they are responsible for.

"In terms of putting a race calendar together for the year, where he's going to go - whether it's the European Championships and, or the, Commonwealths Games, he is to speak to Athletics Ireland this week and the Commonwealth Games authorities in Northern Ireland."

Reid was allowed to compete at last year's Tokyo Olympics despite facing charges at that stage.

Leon Reid won a Commonwealth Games 200m bronze medal for Northern Ireland in 2018

On Friday, Bristol Crown Court found Reid guilty of allowing his flat in Bath to be used to produce cocaine and for receiving payment, which text messages showed amounted to £500 a month.

He was found not guilty of concealing criminal property and of three firearms offences, which all related to items seized from his flat.

Reid's involvement in the case followed sub-letting his flat to a fellow athlete, Romaine Hyman, in the early months of 2020 when Reid was warm-weather training in South Africa.

Hyman was found guilty of 18 offences and sentenced to 26 years in prison at the court hearing, with two other men given jail terms.

Reid returned to Bath earlier than planned in 2020 because of the global pandemic and then found himself having to answer police questions upon his arrival back home.

"The jury did note that he was in no way involved in the supply of cocaine or holding on to guns or stolen property," added his agent McVeigh.

Reid switched from GB to Ireland in 2018

"When he came back to that house, that was all going on in the background. He was not aware of that.

"He got a suspended sentence because criminal activity happened in his premises.

"What that criminal activity was, he didn't know. The way the judge summed that up was: he landed, he got stranded and he acquiesced."

The trial was scheduled to take place in November but had to be delayed because of the pandemic - and McVeigh said that only added to the emotional toll on him and his family.

"Like it would be to anybody, if it was your brother or sister or child that found themselves in that situation," he added.

As his Belfast-born birth mother struggled with addiction issues, Reid's childhood saw him spend time in 14 different foster homes before he was adopted by a Wexford woman.

After winning medals at under-20 and under-23 level for Great Britain, Reid's desire to switch international eligibility to Ireland was granted in 2018 - four months after winning his Commonwealth Games medal in Australia.

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