Dealer caught with bags of heroin jailed

Addict claimed £2,000 drugs haul was for personal use

A dealer nabbed with 170 tenner bags worth of heroin has been jailed for six months.

Thomas McNamara, 47, was collared with a £ 2,000 haul of the killer class-A drug when he hobbled out his front door and into cops.

He claimed it was for personal use.

The pusher was put on a treatment plan and ordered to kick his addition – but has been locked up after he kept using heroin and cocaine.

McNamara was found guilty of intent to supply opiates after a trial at Paisley Sheriff Court.

Prosecutor Colin Wilson told how the crook – who walks with a stick – tried to leg it.

He said: “Officers were in possession of recent intelligence that indicated McNamara was concerned in the supply of a controlled substance.

“They observed him exiting the front path of one of the houses.

“On observing police, McNamara put his head down and walked briskly towards a taxi parked nearby.

“PCs Miller and Gilmour informed him he was being detained and cautioned him.

“PC Miller took hold of his right arm.

“McNamara pulled away, running back into the garden – officers pursued him.

“McNamara attempted to pull away again.

“He was put in the prone position and placed under arrest.

“He was searched and they recovered diamorphine weighing 17g, with a street value of £1,190.”

The dealer was lifted outside his home in Paisley’s Tannahill Road around 11.30am on October 8, 2015.

He was convicted of intent to supply heroin and was put on a court-ordered drug treatment and testing plan – costing more than £10,000.

The programme forces addicts to attend counselling sessions and submit regular blood and urine tests.

Defence lawyer Gemma Rathey admitted her client, who has a previous conviction for dealing, was unable to kick his habit.

She said: “He maintains this was for personal use.

“He was placed on the treatment order.

“Regretably, he was unable to reduce his substance taking.

“He was quite a heavy user of diamorphine and cocaine.

“He’s under no illusions of the disposals that can be put in place.”

McNamara was also convicted of theft after he stole £442 worth of goods from a shop.

Security cameras captured him filling a bag with produce before slinking off.

Sheriff Tom McCartney warned McNamara, of the town’s Glencoats Avenue, a jail stretch was inevitable.

He said: “Not withstanding the gravity of the offence, the court decided a Drug Treatment and Testing Order could be imposed as an alternative to prison. “You have failed to comply. “Given you have a previous conviction and was sentenced to prison for having a controlled substance with intent to supply, only a prison sentence is appropriate.”