Real-life Renton gets 6 years jail for selling heroin
Trainspotting namesake is sentenced
A DRUG dealer with the same name as Renton from Trainspotting was yesterday sentenced to six years in prison for dealing heroin.
In the 1996 film, the character, played by Ewan McGregor, is an addict trying to come off heroin.
But the real-life Mark Renton, 37, was caught with a stash of the class A drug worth about £620 in the Pilton area of Edinburgh in April.
He was jailed by Lord Pentland at the High Court in Edinburgh after pleading guilty to selling heroin over a six-week period.
It was the fourth time he had been found guilty of trafficking the drug.
He had also previously been handed a six-year sentence for five counts of housebreaking and theft.
In his defence, Renton claimed he was only selling drugs to help a mother gain access to her children and pay off her debts.
But this tale was called an “implausible explanation” by the judge, who pointed out that he had still “once again” committed the offence and said he had been given “numerous opportunities” to address his addiction.
As Lord Pentland addressed Renton, he concluded that the criminal was a danger to public safety and unlikely to address his drug dependence.
He said: “The trade in class A drugs, in which you have willingly played an active part over many years, is one that brings misery and despair to many communities.
“I consider that in addition to punishing you for what you have done, I must impose a sentence which makes plain to anyone that the courts will deal severely with the type of repeated offending demonstrated in your case.”