Former rugby player handed eight-year ban for first doping offence
Monday 24 February 2014 - UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) has today confirmed that former Welsh Rugby Union player Dean Colclough has been suspended from all sport for eight years after being found guilty of committing anti-doping rule violations involving the possession and trafficking of steroids.
Following an investigation prompted by the receipt of information from the UK Border Force, UKAD charged Mr. Colclough with two anti-doping rule violations, possession, and trafficking of anabolic steroids.
Following a hearing before the National Anti-Doping Panel (‘NADP’), Mr Colclough was found to be producing and distributing supplements containing substances prohibited under the World Anti-Doping Agency’s 2013 Prohibited List, via Dragon Nutrition Limited (‘DNL’). Mr. Colclough was closely involved in the running and operating of DNL, and distributed steroids under his own DNL brand.
The minimum sanction for these offences is four years, but the NADP considered the offences to be sufficiently serious so as to warrant a sanction of eight years.
He is banned from all sport from 14 November 2013 to 13 November 2021. The full written decision can be found on the UKAD website here.
UKAD Director of Legal Graham Arthur said: “An independent panel has imposed a significant ban on this athlete, the largest yet to be handed down in the UK for a first offence. It is a significant case for a number of reasons."
“Firstly, it was through our strong relations with the UK Border Force that the case was first brought to our attention. Secondly, this finding demonstrates that everyone in sport has a responsibility to anti-doping, no matter what the level of engagement."
“With ‘intelligence-sharing’ of this type a key feature of the new Code, we look forward to this sort of cooperation leading to many more such cases in the future.”
