Jail for man found with 49 blocks of cannabis

Lerwick Sheriff Court.

A 59-year old man who hid blocks of cannabis under his floorboards has been jailed for 30 months.

Steven George Priest, from Lerwick, admitted being in the supply of the Class B drug at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Thursday.

Police executed a search of his Nederdale home on 9th June and found Priest standing in a recess underneath the stairs, with three others at the property.

When officers searched the recess, they found “loose floorboards” where Priest had been standing, revealing an “underfloor void” when lifted.

Procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie said that the “bulk” of the cannabis was found there, along with a “significant” amount of money.

In total, 49 blocks of “compressed, finely fragmented” cannabis were discovered – along with over £30,000 in cash.

If broken into the smallest possible sales, Mr MacKenzie said dealers could have made £28,300 from the cannabis.

Defence agent Tommy Allan said that Priest had developed an addiction to crack cocaine which was costing him around £60 a day.

He ran up “significant debts”, and had agreed to let his use be housed to store the cannabis, money, scales and a counting machine in order to clear his debts.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank said that with the sums involved, and with Priest having prior drug-related convictions, a custodial sentence was “unavoidable”.

Mr Allan agreed it was “inevitable”, and said Priest was “sorry that he got involved with this again”.

Sheriff Cruickshank sentenced Priest to two-and-a-half years in prison, backdated to the 13th June.