Former West Ham Ace Thierry Nevers Jailed After Bragging About Crimes

Thierry Nevers, a 23-year-old former professional who previously turned out for the likes of the respective academies of West Ham United and Reading and the first teams of Newport County and Bradford City, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and was slapped with a three-year jail sentence at Lincoln Crown Court on Monday after he bragged about his drug-dealing antics on Instagram.

A promising winger in the infancy of his career, Nevers may never return to the footballing lifestyle after joining forces with a criminal to sell cannabis across the United Kingdom. The ex-footballer’s accomplice Allan Barrass, 50, was put behind bars for ten years after he admitted the same charge alongside the possession of a sawn-off shotgun. Lincolnshire Police said that mobile phone searches proved contact between the two.

Ex-West Ham Starlet Thierry Nevers Jailed for Three Years

Not only were text messages between Nevers and Allan Barrass, from Main Street, Dorrington, Lincolnshire, found by local police – but there was also clear evidence of Class A drug-dealing. Barrass, as alluded to earlier, was sentenced to ten years in prison after admitting three drug-related offences and one firearms offence.

Police said Barrass was arrested on 6 August 2025, and a cannabis grow was found in his garage. Officers on the case also seized 40g (1.4oz) of cocaine, a total of £5,860 in cash and weapons – including a lock knife, an extending baton and a baseball bat.

Lincoln Crown Court, according to reports, heard that Nevers (of Severn Way, Tilehurst, Reading) was making regular trips to and from Dorrington to the Reading area to sell drugs – and the left-winger, born in 2002, was arrested a week after Barrass.

Alongside his football journey, Nevers had begun building an online presence by posting fitness updates and later rap videos on his Instagram account and clips that he posted himself would later become key evidence in his prosecution. Lincolnshire Police said he was a “known Instagram content maker, bragging about drug dealing in his videos”.

Detective Sergeant Adam Petty, the officer overseeing the investigation, said that dealing drugs will not be tolerated in that area: “Drugs have a terrible impact on our communities and will never be tolerated. As well as the suffering caused to users, drug dealing brings violence and an uplift in theft offences, and often, as is seen in this case, the possession of dangerous weapons.

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Without a club since the summer just gone, Nevers – after growing up in the area – started off his journey at Reading’s academy in 2019 but signed for West Ham United’s academy two years later as a sign of intent from the fleet-footed wide man. Instead of progressing into the east Londoners’ first-team set-up, he spent time out on loan: at Newport County and Bradford City for either half of the 2022/23 campaign.

Unable to get a crack of the whip for the Hammers, he moved to Moldovan Super Liga side FC Sheriff Tiraspol – who, in 2021, became the first ever Moldovan outfit to reach the group stages of the Champions League – on a free transfer from West Ham in January 2024. Plundering four goal contributions, he played ten times before moving to NK Varazdin.

Nevers’ move to Croatia in the summer of 2024 didn’t really pay off, though, as the youngster played just twice (45 minutes of their league opener in August and 23 minutes later on in the season) before leaving the club in the summer just gone. The once-promising Englishman’s footballing career is now in tatters after being jailed for three years.

All statistics per Transfermarkt – correct as of 10/12/2025