EXCLUSIVE: Former Crystal Palace loanee & Irish striker jailed for cocaine seizure and car chase

The former Celtic and Hibs striker received the sentence in Dublin.

Ex Arsenal youth star and Crystal Palace loanee Anthony Stokes has been handed a 15-month prison sentence after almost €4,000 worth of cocaine was seized by authorities.

The 36-year-old Irishman, who made the most appearances in his playing career for Celtic and Hibs, was stopped following a high-speed car chase in Dublin in January 2023. Stokes was found to be over the alcohol limit, drove at 160 km/h and nearly collided with another motorist, as reported by RTE..

The former footballer was handed the sentence at Dublin District Court and given a five-year driving ban after it had emerged that he had failed a recent drug test. Stokes also entered an additional guilty plea for the possession of 86 illegal street tablets in the south of Dublin around 10 days after the car chase.

Stokes’ sentencing had been adjourned last month pending a treatment report to prove he is off drugs but was found to still have traces of cocaine in his system. The ex player’s defence solicitor Lorraine Stephens had asked the judge to consider a community service order. Stokes could have faced up to two years imprisonment but was handed a less harsh sentence thanks to his guilty pleas.

In the mitigation plea, Ms Stephens spoke of Stokes’ background in football and moving from Cherry Orchard Football Club in Dublin to Arsenal at 14 years old. The lawyer said that he had struggled with addiction from a young age and began abusing alcohol at the age of 16, with that problem progressing to cocaine abuse towards the end of his career.

The court also heard that Stokes had struggled to come to terms with the end of his career, developing gambling problems, which had been explored in a documentary looking at the mental health difficulties for young footballers.

The Irishman only made one first team appearance for Arsenal, which came in a League Cup win over Sunderland, playing just one minute. Stokes was on loan at Crystal Palace for a short spell in 2009, while on the books at Sunderland.

The striker made 13 Crystal Palace appearances scoring just one goal, which came in a Championship match against Preston North End at Selhurst Park.