Russell Haynes has been dropped by his management company Laughing Pod. It was revealed at the weekend that before he was a stand-up the comedian had been sentenced to two years in prison for indecent assault of a 15-year-old boy. The case has been reported in the press and on websites.

It has also emerged today that Haynes wrote a piece for Chortle in 2013 about working on then open mic circuit which hinted strongly at a troubled past and used a phrase which retrospectively is rather telling – “adult-on-adult action". The piece said that he performs as "Russ" - which may have been so that anyone googling him would not have come across stories about his past.

Haynes posted his explanation of events on Facebook yesterday but said that he would take the post down after an hour which he did. Today Stephen Watson the Director of the Laughing Pod Comedy Club & The Laughing Pod Act Management, posted on Facebook that “Laughing Pod Management parted company with Russ and also revoked all gig offers. He has since been removed from the website and all brochures.”

Watson went on to say that the events of the weekend had come as a complete shock to him. “Russ and I have had a friendship spanning a few years and I always felt proud to have him on my books…As an agent I am disappointed and angry that this information was kept from me all this time.” He only found out when approached for a comment by a journalist from the Sun on Sunday.