Ex-Liverpool footballer Jordon Ibe has been penalized after confessing to using a forged prescription to acquire sleep medication from a pharmacy.
The 30-year-old, who played 41 games for Liverpool and later joined Derby County, Birmingham City, and AFC Bournemouth, faced legal action for attempting to secure the insomnia medication Zolpidem with a counterfeit prescription.
In a recent appearance at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court, Ibe admitted to possessing a fraudulent item intended for use in deception.
The magistrates fined Ibe £230, requiring payment within a month, and also imposed £85 in legal costs and a £72 victim surcharge.
The court revealed that on May 24, 2024, he used the fraudulent document at a pharmacy on Hornsey Road, returning four days later in an effort to obtain more medication.
During his second visit, a vigilant pharmacy employee confiscated Ibe’s fake prescription.
Ibe, who commanded a club-record fee of £15million when Bournemouth signed him Liverpool in 2016, did not appear in court for his first appearance in January.
His solicitor Claire Reid said Ibe, who signed last year for Bulgarian first division side Lokomotiv Sofia, had been ‘blissfully unaware’ of the case because he had been charged by a letter sent to his family home in Southwark, south London, just after he left the UK to join his new club.
Former Liverpool winger Jordon Ibe has been fined £230 after admitting to using a fraudulent prescription to obtain sleep medication from a pharmacy
In 2020, Ibe was convicted and banned from driving after crashing his Bentley into a coffee shop, causing thousands of pounds of damage, before driving off. Pictured: Pictured outside Bromley Magistrates’ Court on December 11, 2019
Ibe, who signed last year for Bulgarian first division side Lokomotiv Sofia, had been ‘blissfully unaware’ of the fake prescription case because he had been charged by a letter sent to his family home in Southwark, south London, just after he left the UK to join his new club
A judge then ordered for him to appear in court to face the charge on Thursday.
In recent years, Ibe has been playing non-league football and secured a move to the Bulgarian capital in November 2025.
Lokomotiv are the 11th different club of his career, and the third this year.
He once played in front of capacity crowds at Anfield and was in the conversation for an England call-up but now he joins a side who average less than 1,000 fans per game.
It shows Ibe’s commitment to relaunching his career after admitting in 2021 that he had suffered with depression for four years.
In 2020, Ibe was convicted and banned from driving after crashing his Bentley into a coffee shop, causing thousands of pounds of damage, before driving off.
After the incident, at The Pantry in Plaistow Lane in Bromley, south-east London, shortly before 5am on July 30, 2018, Ibe admitted a charge of careless driving and was found guilty of failing to stop after an accident.
He later moved to play for Derby, and issued a statement saying he was undergoing rehabilitation to improve his mental health.
‘I want to apologise to all my fans around the world,’ Ibe wrote on Instagram.
‘I’ve find (sic) myself in a dark place, due to suffering with depression.
‘It’s no scheme for the media or to have my name in your mouths, I just find things hard truly.
‘I appreciate all the love and messages from everyone. Times are hard in general due to this pandemic.’
After moving to play for Derby, Ibe issued a statement saying he was undergoing rehabilitation to improve his mental health.
Ibe burst onto the scene at Wycombe, making his league debut in October 2011 aged 15 and 311 days and became their youngest ever Football League player and scorer before joining Liverpool in December 2011.
He was a winger with enormous potential, having made his debut for Liverpool aged 15, scored on his first start at the same age, and made himself a regular for the Reds between 2014 and 2016.
Ibe spent just over four-and-a-half years at Anfield, breaking into the England under-21 setup while there.
Raheem Sterling was his mentor, and Steven Gerrard even told England boss Roy Hodgson to keep an eye on him.
‘He is certainly a player we like very much and certainly a player we have our eyes on. It’s far from impossible that he will get called up in one of the next games,’ Hodgson said in 2015, though the senior cap never did come.
In the same year, pictures emerged, believed to be taken in 2014, of Ibe with Sterling holding a shisha pipe at a shisha cafe in London.
Casually dressed, the pair are sat on a sofa in front of a table with shisha pipes, cans of fizzy Fanta orange and a portable music speaker.
Raheem Sterling (right) and Jordon Ibe (left) pictured smoking a shisha pipe
Fast forward to today, Ibe has penned a two-year deal with Lokomotiv and will be hoping to make an impact after struggling to call any club home for the past few seasons.
‘After a few difficult seasons, Jordon is ready to revive his career, and we all believe that this will happen at Lokomotiv,’ a club statement said.
‘The management of Lokomotiv wishes Jordon Ibe much health, happiness and success with the red and black jersey.’
He has only played 11 minutes of professional football – for Derby County and Ebbsfleet United – since his contract expired at Bournemouth in 2020.
It was something of a surprise when Liverpool let him go in 2016, as he had been a highly regarded youngster. He registered four goals and seven assists in 58 appearances for the Merseysiders.
He was signed by the Cherries with high expectations but was unable to consistently reach the levels that people knew he was capable of, scoring five goals and managing nine assists in 92 appearances.
After leaving the South Coast club, he has had spells with Derby, Adanaspor in Turkey, Ebbsfleet, Hayes & Yeading, and Sittingbourne.
He told The Guardian of his ambitions earlier this year: ‘Continue football; reach the levels I know I can hit; give it that one last push.
‘I wouldn’t say I regret what’s happened. It’s changed me for the better. Football is not the main accomplishment in my life.
‘I have a deeper purpose; being a dad; being a great human being; being a brother; being a son. More meaningful stuff in life.
‘Hopefully everything goes my way.’
