From wrestling ring to smuggling ring

But the sport he so dearly loved left Amarjit Singh partially deaf and suffering kidney and liver problems so severe he requires the use of a catheter.

Now the 43-year-old from Chiltern Drive, Portobello, Willenhall, will have plenty of time to look back on his glory days as he begins a six-and-a-half-year sentence for trading in deadly guns and ammunition.

He admitted acting as courier for firearms and live ammunition in exchange for £100 worth of cigarettes.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard that Singh was caught with a second man, Lithuanian Andrius Valnuchinas, who was seen placing a carrier bag into the boot of a silver Mercedes driven by Singh at the Gallagher Retail Park on Axeltree Way, Wednesbury, on May 24, 2012.

Singh drove off and was eventually pulled over by police on Wolverhampton Street in Darlaston.

Among the items they found were three new 7.62mm Tordev semi-automatic handguns, three magazines loaded with 24 bullets and a latex Frankenstein mask.

Police also found four wraps of crack cocaine in the central console of the car and a brass knuckleduster in a first aid kit under the passenger seat. A wallet containing £2,085 was found in Singh's pocket, while a further £10,000 in cash was found in a bedroom at his home.

He told the court he was ashamed of his actions. He said he had done it as a favour for £100 worth of cigarettes – which he said was a lot of money for him.

It must have seemed a world away from his glory days as a wrestler.

See video footage of Singh wrestling back in 1996:

Singh represented the Wolverhampton Wrestling Club, based at the Guru Nanak Satsang Sikh Gurdwara on Cannock Road, Wolverhampton, during his career, and still coached there until recent events took over.

Before Singh was sent to prison, former British Wrestling Association chairman and Great Britain team manager Malcolm Morley told the court he had never had any issues with him.

He said: "He was always respectful towards others. He always obeyed instructions and never caused any problems in any tournament I took him to. He was always very calm." Mr Morley added Singh was still involved in the sport as a coach and described him as a role model for other wrestlers. "It is possible some of those he has trained could be involved in the next Olympics," he said.

A talented wrestler even as a youngster, his rise through the professional ranks was a swift one. As a 19-year-old in 1990 Singh held the British and English 100kg title at both senior and junior categories. Four years later he would secure the bronze medal in the 100kg+ category at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada.

In 1996 he would take his wrestling skills onto the biggest stage of all with an appearance in the Olympic Games in Atlanta. But his attempt at glory would end in failure when he finished 13th overall in the Men's Super Heavyweight Freestyle division.

Back in court yesterday, Judge Martin Walsh told Singh as he jailed him: "Guns kill and maim, which is why people want them. You were well aware what you had in your possession and I reject your claim you were doing someone a favour."

His accomplice Andrius Valnuchinas, aged 39, of Lilian Grove, Bilston, is already serving an eight-year stretch for supplying firearms and bullets.

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Mark Black from West Midlands Police's Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said the West Midlands is safer now that both of them are off the street. He added: "Neither of the two men have ever confessed to what the weapons and ammo they possessed were to be used for. And the reality is that we may never know.

"What we do know for certain is that this was a significant haul of guns and ammunition seized as part of intelligence-led policing operation. I am satisfied with the sentences handed down to Singh and his accomplice Valnuchinas.

"The length of those sentences reflects the serious nature of their crimes.

"The two men are rightly serving time behind bars for this very serious offence and the streets of the West Midlands are safer for that."

See also: From Commonwealth Games wrestler to Black Country guns dealer