‘Amateur’ heroin dealer with a noisy exhaust spared jail

A 28-year-old man whose noisy exhaust alerted officers to his stash of heroin has been spared jail – after demonstrating he understood the “vicious” nature of the drug.

Kris Mclean, of Lochore in Fife, was warned at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday that supplying Class A drugs would usually mean a custodial sentence.

However Sheriff Ian Cruickshank said he had been persuaded to deal with the matter through a community disposal after reading a “pretty favourable” criminal justice social work report.

Mclean had been found with 243g of heroin, valued at between £6,100 and £7,480, when police pulled him over for a routine stop in Commercial Road, Lerwick, on 19th June last year.

The driver was also high on cocaine and had a £150’s worth of the drug in his possession.

Mclean had already admitted to being involved in supplying heroin, possessing cocaine and motoring offences when he appeared at the court last month.

During that hearing the court heard how two officers up for the Simmer Dim rally had searched Mclean’s car and found 34 wraps of heroin hidden in a flask.

Sheriff  Cruickshank deferred sentencing for the preparation of reports.

At the latest hearing, Mclean’s defence agent Paul Ralph sought to mitigate his offences by highlighting the “amateur nature” of what went on.

Not only had he arrived off the ferry with a noisy exhaust, he was also driving without insurance and while under the influence.

Mr Ralph described it as “misadventure that was frankly always doomed to failure”.

While recognising the serious nature of the offence, he pointed to his client’s early guilty plea, the lack of any prior involvement with the drugs trade and his engagement with the social work report.

He said his client could still become a “useful, functioning member of society” and suggested a supervision order may be an appropriate method of disposal

Sheriff Cruickshank agreed the reports had been positive and showed Mclean had demonstrated an understanding of the “vicious” nature of heroin.

For the drugs charges, Sheriff Cruickshank issued Mclean with a 12-month supervision order and told him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.

The sheriff also disqualified Mclean from driving for a year and fined him £800 for the motoring offences.