Dealer gets a chance to turn his life around

A dealer hooked on drugs since childhood has been given a chance to turn his life around.

Ben Lawrence, 22, is being assessed for a strict mandatory rehab programme.

He was nabbed selling party drug MDMA to pals.

During an earlier hearing at Paisley Sheriff Court, Lawrence admitted supplying the Class-A drug.

Defence lawyer Kevin Brady appealed for help for his client after social workers compiled a dossier on his lifestyle.

He said: “He has had a deeplyentrenched drug addiction since his young teens.

“That was going unnoticed. “There is a suggestion in the report that he doesn’t accept he was dealing.

“He accepts he bought MDMA and was giving it to his friends.”

Lawrence was selling the drug – a key ingredient in ecstasy – from his flat in Paisley’s Foxbar Crescent.

It is often sold as a brown-tinted crystalline powder, which can be crushed and snorted or swallowed.

The dealer was handed community serviced after he was collared on September 28, 2017.

But he asked for extra support and could be put on a Drug Treatment and Testing Order.

Offenders with entrenched habits are forced to take regular tests to ensure they are clean.

Experts will assess him to make sure he is strong enough to take part.

Doctors will monitor him until he is drug-free in a bid to reduce his offending.

Lawrence previously landed in the dock for ranting at cops who burst into his flat.

Officers were called to his flat over safety fears and broke down the door.

His girlfriend had raised the alarm because she wanted a drunk man removed.

But he kicked off because the door had just been repaired an hour earlier.

Lawrence was arrested for bawling “f**k off” at police during the row on January 2017.

Sheriff Frances McCartney continued the case for four weeks for the exam to take place.

She said: “I think you do have the ability to turn your life around and I think you do have the ability to contribute to society.

“I’m going to give you a chance.” Lawrence has been ordered to return to the dock next month.

I’m going to give you a chance Sheriff Frances McCartney