Thomas Minns: Ex-Hull KR player gets 16-month doping ban

Thomas Minns scored four tries in 10 games for Rovers in 2018, before his season ended with the failed drugs test

Former Hull KR centre Thomas Minns has been banned for 16 months after testing positive for cocaine.

The 24-year-old failed the test after Rovers' 38-6 win at Huddersfield in March and was released by the Super League club in July.

He has already admitted taking the drug, which he said came at a time shortly after his mother had died.

Minns, who also had spells at Leeds and London, is without a club at the moment and free to return on 14 July.

The test showed the presence of the prohibited substance benzoylecgonine - a metabolite of cocaine - with his ban starting on the date of the sample collection on 15 March.

"All athletes must adhere to the principle of strict liability," UK Anti Doping's chief executive Nicole Sapstead said.

"Regardless of whether or not they are deliberately seeking to gain an unfair sporting advantage.

"It is an athlete's responsibility to know what substances are in their system, and they must be aware that even if a substance is not banned out-of-competition, there is always the possibility of it remaining in their body for a period of time and it being detected in-competition."