Katie Price‘s beau Carl Woods is pals with a drugs-gang leader who was sentenced to eight years in prison.
The former Love Island star, 31, shared a snap of himself enjoying a catch up with his friend Bradley Stantiford to Instagram back in February.
Stantiford, 44, who was known as The Beast, smuggled cocaine through Stansted Airport and is thought to have been released from prison this year, reports The Sun.
Catching up: Katie Price’s beau Carl Woods (left) enjoyed a drink with his pal Bradley Stantiford before lockdown after his friend was released from prison for leading a cocaine gang
Carl shared the snap of the catchup to Instagram, writing: ‘Just a couple friends having a drink. Been a long time Mr Stantiford.’
The pair can be seen smiling in the picture, which is thought to have been taken at a pub in Essex, with Carl appearing to have his arm around his mate.
A source told the publication: ‘Carl and Brad have known each other for a long time and are close pals.
‘When Brad got out he had a lot of catching up to do with his mates.’Brad has told friends he is determined to stay on the straight and the narrow.’
Go way back: A source said Carl (pictured with Katie) and Stantiford had ‘known each other for a long time and are close pals’
They added that Stantiford is moving on with his life now, saying he’s ‘keeping his head down’ and believes ‘what happened is the past’.
MailOnline has contacted Katie Price’s representative for a comment.
Stantiford and seven other members of the gang were jailed back in 2016 for a total of 46 years, reports the Dunmow Broadcast.
The court case heard that the gang were based at an address in Stansted which they used as a drugs safe house for storing and preparing the cocaine.
Jailed: Stantiford (pictured in his police mugshot) pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs and was sentenced to eight years in prison back in 2016
More than 1.5kg of 85 per cent purity cocaine was found by police during a raid and officers also found cutting agent, scales and presses used by dealers at the property.
Speaking at the trial, Judge Patricia Lynch QC said Stantiford’s distribution network was on a commercial scale.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs and was sentenced to eight years in prison back in 2016.
It was also reported that Stantiford was given an interim violent offender order banning him from going to pubs and clubs in four English counties in 2012.
Defiant: Katie recently hit back at a troll who questioned her relationship and the age gap between herself and her boyfriend Carl (pictured last week)
‘You need to add up luv!’: Katie took offence to a follower who asked her why she thinks the Love Island star is ‘the one’ when he is ‘half your age’
It is thought that he was also handed a five-year jail sentence for causing grievous bodily harm.
He was also said to be hunted by police after breaking the terms of his day release from prison and was recaptured in Nazeing, Hertfordshire.
It comes after Carl’s girlfriend Katie Price was forced to hit back at a troll who questioned their relationship.
The former glamour model, 42, responded to the dig posted underneath an Instagram post in which she thanked Carl for his love and support after her six-hour operation on her broken feet.
Katie took offence to a follower who asked her why she thinks the Love Island star is ‘the one’ when he is ‘half your age’.
Smitten: She had posted: ‘Thank you to @CarlJWoods for constantly fitting me around his work and being by my side, loving knowing I’ve found the man that has ticked every box’
The troll wrote: ‘How can you really think he is ‘the one’ when he is half your age why don’t you try going it alone for a while. You don’t always need to move on to the next straight away.’
Katie hit back: ‘You need to add up luv. He is 31, I’m 42. Hardly half my age’.
The snap showed Katie in a hospital gown on a bed with her feet in casts with the businessman by her side.
In a lengthy caption, she spoke about car dealer Carl and said: ‘ MASSIVE THANKYOU and massive Thank you to @CarlJWoods for constantly fitting me around his work and being by my side, loving knowing I’ve found the man that has surprisingly ticked every box I could only dream of a man to be like and knowing I’m spending the rest of my life with him.’
It comes as the star discussed her relationship with Carl in her latest YouTube video.
She said: ‘Carl has been absolutely amazing and like I don’t care what anybody says. I don’t know why people are starting to knock us.’
Getaway: Katie and Carl went public with their relationship last month and are said to have known each other for years before deciding to take their relationship to the next level