A semi-professional footballer was told he had let his family and community down as he was jailed for seven-and-a-half years for possessing a loaded handgun, and more than £7,000 of drugs.
Delroy Ferguson, 26, was handed the lengthy sentence after being found guilty of possession of a class B drug with intent to supply after a trial at Leeds Crown Court.
Ferguson, who has played for Guiseley, Wakefield and Garforth Town and worked with youngsters at Chapeltown Youth Development Centre, had already pleaded guilty to two offences of possession of a prohibited firearm and possession of ammunition.
Police found a Browning self-loading handgun which contained a bullet, along with a silencer and a magazine containing five more bullets when they raided the bedroom of his home on Louis Street, Chapeltown, on August 9 this year.
They also discovered carrier bag containing 361g of class B drug methlenedioxypyrovalerone (MDVP). The court heard the drug had a street value of £7,220. Ferguson claimed he had found the gun and drugs in a neighbours garden.
Jailing Ferguson, judge Christopher Batty said: “This is a sad day. To be trusted with such items means that you are close to someone very significantly involved in the wholesale supply of class B drugs. You facilitate, by your involvement in this, the lethal firearm and ammunition to remain in the criminal underworld.
“It could have been taken from you by its owner, or indeed by anyone else, and used to kill or to maim. The role that you performed in holding that is vital because it keeps it from the eyes of the police.”
Judge Batty also told Ferguson he had let down his family and youngsters he had helped in the community. He said: “Your mum took you to church every week of your life. She brought you up on her own. You are her only son. What I feel for her today is real sorrow. What you were thinking of - goodness knows.
“You have helped the youngsters in Chapeltown. They look up to you and see you as a role model. What are you going to say to them now? Everything you have said to them in completely undermined by you involvement in this offence.”
Ferguson’s lawyer Mark Foley said: “His character is exemplary. It is wholly perplexing as to why he is here.”