A SALE businessman has been convicted of perverting the course of justice by covering up emails relating to fraudulent deals by the former chief executive of JJB.

David Barrington, 52, of Priory Road, Sale was tried at Southwark Crown Court alongside ex-JJB chief, Christopher Ronnie, 52, of Knutsford Road, Wilmslow and a third man, David Ball, 54, of Wilbury Avenue, Sutton, Surrey.

The court heard that Ronnie failed to declare three secret deals between December 2007 and April 2008 while at the helm of the sports retail giant.

Ronnie concealed the £1m payments and splashed some of the cash on a luxury home in Florida while he was already £11 million in debt to Icelandic Bank Kaupthing Singer Friedlander.

Months later, in September 2008, share prices for JJB plummeted to less than 10 per cent of the value Ronnie had originally purchased them for.

The specialist sports outlet was only saved when rival chain Sports Direct stepped in and offered a £28.3m deal to buy the brand, 20 stores and the website.

The jury found Ronnie guilty of three fraud offences and two counts of furnishing false information.

Ball and Barrington were found guilty of two counts of perverting the course of justice between 2007 and 2013.

The duo were involved in Performance Brands - a sports goods supplier to JJB.

When the Serious Fraud Office knocked at their door they asked a computer engineer to wipe any trace of emails crucial to their investigation and ordered a misleading report.

JJB Sports was founded in Wigan, Lancashire, in 1971 footballer Dave Whelan.

Mr Whelan sold his 29 per cent stake in the business in 2007 to Ronnie, who previously worked at rival chain Sports Direct, for £190m.

Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith released the trio on bail ahead of a sentence on a date to be fixed.