Former West Bromwich Albion player Ronnie Wallwork descended from a Premier League career to breaking up stolen car parts in a rented scrapyard unit in just two years, a court has heard.

Police stumbled on the operation of 34-year-old Wallwork while investigating a string of unconnected armed robberies across Lancashire, one of which led to the shooting of a security guard, who survived.

The main targets of the crime squad were career criminals Craig Bulger and Mark Cain, who shot the guard several times at a Tesco branch in Preston, and were both given indeterminate sentences in June.

Bulger, aged 51, was tracked to a scrapyard in Manchester where Wallwork came to the attention of the authorities in 2010 as the site became the focus of heavy surveillance.

Earlier this year Wallwork, of Failsworth, Manchester, pleaded guilty to three counts of receiving stolen goods but the full facts of the case only emerged yesterday when his best friend, Siobhan Johnstone, went on trial over the matter.

A judge ordered a jury at Preston Crown Court to clear Johnstone, 34, of Newton Heath, Manchester, of three counts of handling stolen goods after hearing the prosecution case against her.

Johnstone had sold a stolen Volkswagen Touran engine and car parts from a stolen BMW 318i on eBay on behalf of Wallwork, described in court as her “lifelong friend”. She had also allowed a stolen Mazda Furano, with no rear registration plate, to be parked on her driveway at the ex-footballer’s request.

When arrested she told detectives she had no knowledge of where the Mazda or the car parts had come from. She said she had regularly helped Wallwork over the years and had sold other items on his behalf on eBay – including some of his West Bromwich Albion playing kit.

Mark Rhind, defending Johnstone, said:  “Mr Wallwork was involved in breaking stolen cars up and no doubt selling them on. He was a man who had some means but was now caught up in financial difficulties at the time of this investigation.” Wallwork will be sentenced on December 5.