Woman escapes jail for ordering pills from Africa

She spotted advert for diazepam on Facebook

A former Larkhall woman who ordered diazepam tablets from central Africa has escaped a jail sentence.

Cherylann Taylor had ordered the drugs while living at an address in Larkhall’s Avon Road.

Last month she admitted a charge of importing controlled drugs contrary to the Misuse of Drugs Act and the Customs and Excise Management Act.

The charge stated she had been knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of controlled drugs.

A parcel addressed to Taylor had been intercepted by a member of Border Force at a sorting office in Coventry at 8.50pm on February 11 last year.

The package was examined and found to contain 9980 diazepam tablets.

The matter was referred to Police Scotland and an investigation commenced.

A warrant to search the accused’s Larkhall home was obtained by officers.

When the house was searched documents were found which showed that Taylor had ordered the drugs and had transferred money to Cameroon.

She was detained, and during the course of an interview accepted she had signed a transfer order in payment for the drugs.

However, when cautioned and charged she made no reply. The value of the drugs was estimated to be between 50p to £1 per tablet, depending on whether they were sold individually or in bulk, making the total value of the substances in her possession between £5000 to £10,000.

At Hamilton Sheriff Court yesterday (Wednesday) Taylor’s agent told Sheriff Thomas Bicket that his 36-year-old client had been a heroin addict since the age of 24 and was “a very damaged young lady.”

She had moved to Larkhall with her partner for a fresh start, he said.

However, her diazepam prescription was not enough and she started to use Valium “to self medicate.”

Taylor had noticed through Facebook that diazepam was available online. The solicitor said that the drugs had cost Taylor £90 which, he pointed out, showed how much damage can be caused from something of little value.

He asked Sheriff Bicket to deal with the matter through a non-custodial sentence, pointing out that Taylor, now of Quakerfield, Bannockburn, Stirlingshire, was psychologically and emotionally vulnerable.

Sentencing Taylor, Sheriff Bicket told her: “I’m satisfied that any custodial term I would impose would be of such duration as to be relatively pointless.”

He imposed a community payback order – which required her to undergo two years’ supervision and carry out 160 hours’ unpaid work within a year – as an alternative to custody.