A TOP amateur boxer has been given two years' detention for being involved in drug dealing in a Worcester nightclub.

Apprentice bricklayer Matthew Greening had represented England in the sport and captained a national team against Russia and Germany.

He started boxing when he was 10, trained three times a week and hoped to turn professional, said Charles Crow, defending the teenager at Worcester Crown Court yesterday.

Greening, aged 18, of Winslow Avenue, Droitwich, admitted possession of ecstasy with intent to supply in the Torch nightclub, based in Cripplegate Park off Tybridge Street.

He was spotted slipping a tablet to another customer in the toilets, said Julie Sparrow, prosecuting.

Police officers found 50 tablets worth about £400 after a search.

Greening told them that he was looking after the tablets for a known drug peddler but did not know what they were.

He had a previous conviction for assault and intimidating witnesses for which he was given community service.

Mr Crow said Greening did not have a drug habit but stupidly accepted the tablets when he was drunk.

He reacted in panic and tried to throw them away when the police were called.

Greening was taking a bricklaying course at Worcester College of Technology and was studying for an NVQ qualification, his counsel added.

Recorder Douglas Readings said he accepted the defendant had not planned to deal in drugs at the club but was nevertheless supporting an insidious and unpleasant trade.

He took into account that Greening was "a bright hope in British sport" but said custody was inevitable.