COCAINE SHAME OF SURROGATE BABY DAD
FATHER-TO-BE CONVICTED OF DEALING
A DAD-TO-BE has been convicted of dealing cocaine – just months after going public about his surrogate baby joy.
Childless couple Peter Walker and Natasha Hutcheon told in March how their dream of having a child was coming true after they found a surrogate mum.
It has now emerged that Walker, 31, was convicted at Glasgow Sheriff Court on June 8 of possessing cocaine with intent to supply from his flat in the city’s south side.
He was ordered to wear an electronic tag for 60 days, which forces him to stay at home between the hours of 7pm and 7am.
Walker also has to complete a 280-hour community payback order within six months.
The tag is expected to be removed just weeks before the baby, being carried by Natasha’s friend Katie Beardall, is due in September.
Despite the conviction, childhood sweethearts Walker and Natasha have vowed to stay together.
Walker told the Record yesterday: “It was just for personal use but the court treated it like I was supplying cocaine.
“Natasha and I are OK and she’s standing by me.”
Natasha, 31, added: “The cocaine thing has been dealt with and I’m supporting Peter.”
A source said: “Walker has been telling everyone about his great happiness at starting a family – but he had the court case hanging over him.
“He was pretty resigned to getting a prison sentence but he got a lucky break with a tag.
“The police went through his door in December. He got sentenced in June and the baby is due in September, so it’s been quite a bumpy BY MARK McGIVERN Chief Reporter time for him and Natasha.”
In March, Walker and Natasha told our sister paper the Sunday Mail how they searched for a surrogate mum after repeated setbacks as they tried to conceive a child.
After Natasha endured 89 hospital visits and two miscarriages in eight years, her co-worker Katie offered to carry their baby.
Painter and decorator Walker said at the time: “I’m on top of the world, buzzing and just can’t wait to be a dad.
“It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to be.”
When asked yesterday if the conviction could have jeopardised NHS
PETER WALKER ON HIS DRUGS CONVICTION
funding for the surrogacy process, Walker said: “The surrogacy funding has been in place for a long time, way before the drugs conviction.”
Natasha, who had to wait three years for NHS funding to be approved, met Katie while they worked together at an off-licence.
She said: “The offer to be a surrogate mother came right out of the blue. Since then Katie has become my best friend.”
Selfless Katie, who is already a mum, fell pregnant after a complex surrogacy process at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, during which she received Natasha’s frozen eggs and Peter’s sperm.