FORMER Newport County AFC player Michael Boateng has been found guilty of conspiracy to commit bribery in a football match-fixing trial.

Boateng, who played three matches on loan for County last year, was convicted by an 11-1 majority verdict following a four-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court.

The 22-year-old, of Davidson Road, Croydon, south London, was found guilty alongside businessmen Chann Sankaran and Krishna Ganeshan, who were unanimously convicted of the same offence.

Jurors cleared Hakeem Adelakun, who also played for Brighton-based Whitehawk, of involvement in the conspiracy and have yet to reach a verdict on a third footballer, Moses Swaibu.

The jury was told that Sankaran, aged 33, of Hougang Avenue, Singapore, and Ganeshan, aged 44, of Hawthorn Road, Hastings, East Sussex, were the “central figures” in efforts to influence the outcome of matches in League Two and the Conference South.

Adelakun, aged 23, of Thornton Heath, south London, told the jury he knew nothing at all about any plot to fix matches.

Swaibu, aged 25, of Tooley Street, Bermondsey, south London, denies a single count of conspiracy to offer, promise or give a financial advantage to other persons.