 He was sacked by Middlesbrough at the end of the 1993 season after an incident involving a fire extinguisher at a hotel in Swindon.This effectively triggered his retirement from the sport, Courtney later moving into the building trade.After being arrested in May 1997, Courtney was sentenced to six years in prison in 1998 for his part in a plot to import cannabis with a street value of 500,000 into the UK.