Video Production News Thumbnail showing MOBO award winner Nines

MOBO winner nines faces jail after drugs guilty plea

UK rapper and MOBO Award winner Nines, aka Courtney Freckleton, back in the dock after Heathrow arrest as his criminal past and drug offences catch up…

Reported from court

Bénédict Tarot Freeman

22 September 2025 at 17:30Updated 26 April 2026 at 08:562 min read

Default

Rental management, simplified.Replace spreadsheets and billing headaches with one platform.

Try Free

UK rapper and MOBO Award winner Nines, aka Courtney Freckleton, back in the dock after Heathrow arrest as his criminal past and drug offences catch up with him

Rapper Nines, real name Courtney Freckleton, has admitted fresh drug offences and a breach of a court order at Kingston Crown Court, following his arrest at Heathrow Airport last November.

The 34-year-old, whose music career has long drawn on references to cannabis culture, entered guilty pleas to three charges and was immediately remanded in custody after the judge warned he faced an inevitable prison sentence.

Freckleton admitted being concerned in the supply of a Class B drug, namely cannabis, between 1 August and 16 November 2023, as well as possessing cannabis on 15 November 2024. He also pleaded guilty to failing to comply with a Serious Crime Prevention Order by not notifying authorities of a change of address.

The rapper was arrested after arriving at Heathrow, a moment captured in a widely shared TikTok clip showing him in handcuffs being escorted by police officers through the terminal, prompting significant discussion online.

Judge Simon Heptonstall refused bail and adjourned sentencing until the end of next month, telling Freckleton that an immediate custodial term was unavoidable. The conviction adds to a criminal record already marked by serious drug trafficking offences.

In 2013 he was jailed for 18 months for possession of cannabis with intent to supply. Eight years later, in 2021, he admitted a plot to import 28kg of cannabis from Spain and Poland as well as laundering nearly £100,000 linked to the drugs’ value. On that occasion he was sentenced at Harrow Crown Court to 28 months’ imprisonment.

The rapper has released six albums, including the Crop Circle trilogy, each laced with references to cannabis and the underground economy surrounding it. Earlier this month he cancelled a planned music festival, Crop Circle World, which had been scheduled to take place in Margate, Kent, in what appeared to be an acknowledgment of his unresolved legal position.