Tried to pass drug in dock

A teenager has been jailed for nine months for trying to supply cannabis while he was in the dock at Airdrie Sheriff Court.

Scott McClymont had the class B drug in his pocket during a court appearance and tried to give it to a man sitting alongside him in the dock.

His actions on February 18 were spotted by a court custody officer and McClymont, 18, admitted possession of the drug with the intent to supply.

McClymont, from Maryhill in Glasgow, was back at Airdrie Sheriff Court last week to be sentenced..

Procurator fiscal Linda McAffer said:“The court custody officer was sitting in the dock area with the accused sat beside another male. The accused was warned to move away from the other man.

“The accused was then seen removing his right hand from his pocket with a clenched fist.

“The accused said, ‘it was only chewing gum, you can check’. The officer then placed his hand in the accused’s pocket and found a brown-coloured resin which was later found to be cannabis, 0.7g of it.

“The accused later said, ‘I didn’t know it was there’.”

McClymont’s solicitor said: “Hopefully the court can put Mr McClymont under some form of supervision.

“It was blatant stupidity and immaturity. He acknowledges the court will take a serious view of this..”

A visibly unimpressed Sheriff Morag Galbraith then laid down the law to McClymont: “Nothing other than a prison sentence is appropriate for this flagrant disregard for the rules, where you tried to pass cannabis over in a busy courtroom.”