SYLVESTER STALLONE - STALLONE CHARGED OVER HORMONE DRUGS

An Australian court has fined Sylvester Stallone after convicting him of importing a banned growth hormone.

The Hollywood actor was ordered to pay A$13,000 (£5,400) in fines and court costs for bringing the hormone Jintropin into the country without a valid prescription.

A judge in the Australian state of New South Wales also fined Stallone for failing to declare that he was bringing another drug, testosterone, into the country despite having a prescription for it.

In a letter to the court earlier this month the 60-year-old actor said that he had made a "terrible mistake" in bringing the muscle-building hormones into Australia.

Stallone was found to be carrying 48 vials of Jintropin in his luggage after customs officials searched his bags at Sydney airport in February, when the Rambo and Rocky star came to Australia for a three-day promotional tour.

The actor, who returned to the big screen as boxer Rocky Balboa this
year, claimed that he had been taking growth hormones for an undisclosed medical condition and was ignorant of the fact that the drugs he was carrying were banned under Australian law.

He said the reason he was carrying such a large quantity of Jintropin was due to the fact that he was on-route to Thailand and Myanmar to film the latest Rambo movie and would be on location for three months.

Fining Stallone yesterday, judge Paul Cloran said that he was satisfied that the drug and testosterone were for the actor's personal use and that the penalty imposed against him would provide a strong message that bringing such substances into Australia would not be tolerated.