Barnsley FC's former assistant head coach guilty of bribery offences

16 December 2019, 11:55

Tommy Wright was found guilty of an offence under the Bribery Act
Tommy Wright was found guilty of an offence under the Bribery Act. Picture: PA
EJ Ward

By EJ Ward

Barnsley Football Club's former assistant head coach has been found guilty of accepting a bribe of £5,000 to leak commercial information about players.

Tommy Wright, 53, was caught out after he was handed an envelope of cash during the course of an undercover investigation by Daily Telegraph reporter Claire Newell into corruption in football in 2016.

Wright, of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, denied wrongdoing but was convicted of two charges of receiving or accepting a bribe in contravention of the Bribery Act 2000 at Southwark Crown Court on Monday.

Football agent Dax Price, 48, of Sittingbourne, Kent, was also found guilty of two charges of offering or promising a bribe contrary to the same act.

The jury had deliberated for just under 32 hours before returning their majority verdicts on Wright and Price.

Last week, jurors also convicted another football agent, Giuseppe "Pino" Pagliara, 64, of Bury, Greater Manchester, of two charges of offering or promising a bribe.

Following the verdicts, Judge Jeffrey Pegden QC thanked the jury and indicated he intends to sentence the defendants in the new year.