A TEENAGER who died after swallowing at least 19 bags of cocaine had never taken drugs and barely drunk alcohol before, an inquest heard.

Former Nottingham Forest Academy player Reece Staples died aged 19 in police custody in June 2009, after smuggling drugs from Costa Rica.

At an inquest at the Council House yesterday, his mother, Clair Dunne, of Bobbers Mill, said her son never smoked or took drugs and only drank alcohol on special occasions.

"Because he was used to training for football he was not very good at holding his drink," she said.

"He had ambitions to play football at a professional level," Mrs Dunne added.

However, when he left the football academy at the age of 18 he struggled to get a contract as footballer.

"He was due to go for a trial for Yeovil Town Football Club, but that would have been after he died," Mrs Dunne told the inquest.

Mrs Dunne said she was surprised to find out in May 2009 that her son was planning on going to Costa Rica with his girlfriend Kylee Hodgson.

"They didn't go on regular trips abroad and I only found out about the holiday a few days before they were due to go," she said.

"He then rang me halfway through their first week and said he wasn't enjoying the holiday and wanted to come home. He sounded very down."

When Mr Staples returned on June 6 Mrs Dunne said he appeared "pleased to be home". He then left his mother's home late in the evening to see friends and go to an Indian takeaway, Mrs Dunne said.

At around 1.15am Mr Staples was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage to a vehicle in Basford.

Less than five hours later, he collapsed in a cell at Oxclose Lane police station, was taken to hospital by ambulance and pronounced dead on arrival.

Mrs Dunne went to the police station in the early hours of June 7 after a call from his aunt about his arrest.

"I had no idea he had died," Mrs Dunne said. "His death came as a complete shock to me. I had no idea he had swallowed these packets of cocaine."

In May 2010, Stanley Leach was jailed for five years and three months after Nottingham Crown Court heard he used Reece and his girlfriend to smuggle cocaine into the UK from Costa Rica.

Eighteen packets of cocaine, worth between £16,500 and £27,000 at street level, were found in Reece's stomach after his death.

A probe into Reece's death by the Independent Police Complaints Commission led to disciplinary action against five officers.

Four were found guilty of gross misconduct by a panel while the fifth admitted gross misconduct.

The jury-led inquest, chaired by Deputy Coroner Martin Howard Gotheridge, is due to continue tomorrow.