A former British Darts Organisation World Championship quarter-finalist, McKinstry received a six-and-a-half-year ban for fixing two matches and was given a further 18 months for failure to cooperate regarding his phone bill.

These matches took place at the "A Night at the Darts" online series in late April and early May, which were regulated by the DRA.

McKinstry was initially suspended in August after the International Betting Integrity Association had flagged some matches for "suspicious betting" in games which he had played.

These matches were alleged to be his 5-0 loss to England's David Evans on April 30 and his 5-1 defeat to The Netherlands' Wessel Nijman two days later.

Nijman was also banned in October for five years for breaching betting and anti-corruption rules too.

During a DRA Disciplinary Committee hearing on October 17, McKinstry admitted to fixing his match against Evans, who reportedly was not involved in the scandal.

He denied fixing his match with Nijman and failing to cooperate with the DRA, but he was found guilty on all three charges.

This suspension was backdated to August 18, meaning he will be eligible to play again on August 17 2028.

"I made a bad error of judgement at a bad time in my life," said the 34-year-old on Facebook.

"This is something I will regret for the rest of my life and I hope this is a catalyst for anyone else in a bad position.

"I am going to work hard and keep my head down and hopefully put this behind me and come back bigger and stronger."

McKinstry is currently ranked 116 in the Professional Darts Corporation Order of Merit.