Heroin addict jailed for 30 days after breaching court order

A heroin addict who breached a supervised attendance order was sentenced to 30 days in prison when he appeared from custody at Lerwick Sheriff Court today.

The court heard that Alwyn Cheyne, 28, of Lerwick’s Sandveien, had only completed 50 out of 80 hours of the order, which had been imposed last May.

At that court appearance Cheyne pleaded guilty to driving without L plates and without insurance on the A970 at Gulberwick on 31st January last year, and to having a quantity of heroin at a house in Sandveien on 19th February last year. He pleaded not guilty to further charge of driving without a test certificate on 31st January, which was accepted by the court.

Defence solicitor Tommy Allan said that unemployed Cheyne had struggled with his drug addiction for years. He said Cheyne had missed appointments on his supervised attendance order because he had obtained access to his child for the first time for a long while, and also because he had been unwell.

Mr Allan conceded that Cheyne’s record of commitment to the order in recent months had not been inspiring, but he would “welcome the opportunity” to complete the hours and hoped to be able to do so once he gets a methadone prescription.

But Sheriff Graeme Napier was having none of it. He told Cheyne he had had many chances to sort this out and sentenced him to custody.

A supervised attendance order comprises unpaid work and is a direct alternative to a fine where there is no prospect of the offender being able to pay.