Suspended West Yorkshire Police Officer Mark Carter pleaded not guilty to a charge related to the possession of anabolic steroids. Police discovered 277 tablets of the steroid stanozolol when they arrested Carter on suspicion of raping a man and sexually assaulting three other men at the Etap Hotel in Leeds on December 19, 2009.
Carter was found not guilty last week on two charges of sexual assault, one charge of attempted sexual assault and one charge of rape arising from the encounter. However, prosecutors still hope to convict him on steroid possession charges.
Carter has pleaded not guilty to the steroid charges. Anabolic steroids, including stanozolol (aka Winstrol), are classified as a prescription-only controlled class C drug in the United Kingdom. According to the defense attorneys for Carter, it is not illegal to possess (oral and injectable) steroids contained in a medicinal product. However, it is not illegal to possess them unless there is intent to supply or distribute steroids to others.
Mark Carter has been an openly gay police officer since 2005 and was the winner of the 2006 Mr. Gay UK. The Mr. Gay UK is an annual beauty contest in Britain. The pageant has struggled to find a positive ambassador for the contest. Carter is the second winner to have faced serious criminal charges since the contest’s inception in 1993.
About Millard Baker