A FORMER schoolboy champion boxer wrote off his ex-landlord's Saab, dumped it in a bush and crashed another car which did not belong to him while drunk, a court heard.

Professional Jerome Samuels, 19, of Westfield Gardens, Newport, was described in court as "hugely successful" but he had "fell in with a bad crowd" in his younger teenage years and started taking drugs.

Prosecutor Mark Salter told Cwmbran Magistrates Court on October 14 last year Gerald Walters informed police his Saab had been taken and the keys were missing.

The car was found written off in a bush by Peterstone Golf Club with £1,100 damage.

On March 16, Samuels took a Ford KA, which had been smashed into a wall at Malpas Road by Budget Vets causing £926 worth of damage.

On his arrest, the defendant was said to be "incapable of standing or speaking" and at Newport police station he vomited over himself and was admitted to hospital.

The court heard on Thursday how his downfall came when around his 17th birthday he became estranged from his family and started using drugs.

Defending, Richie Garner said his client had mental health problems which he was trying to address.

He added he had not touched substances since the car incidents.

Samuels, the son of former professional middleweight Paul Samuels, was described as a "schoolboy champion" by the Argus after excelling in the ring.

In a recent YouTube clip, Samuels, unbeaten in two fights, recently told CJG Talk Boxing how he is rededicating himself to the sport.

Samuels pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated vehicle taking causing damage under £5,000, driving a vehicle above the alcohol limit and driving without insurance.

He was handed a three month sentence for each aggravated vehicle taking, to be served consecutively, suspended for 12 months.

Three months was imposed for the alcohol offence to be served concurrently and he was in breach of a conditional discharge for possession of mephedrone (M-Cat) and failing to answer bail.

For both, one month concurrently was added on and he was banned from driving for 30 months.

No separate penalty was given for the insurance crime.