The dealer
Addict used messaging service, with a price list, to sell stash of deadly pills
A dealer was busted running an online drugs shop from his dingy Paisley flat.
James Kerr, 36, was flogging deadly pills including Etizolam and Alprazolam worth thousands of pounds via WhatsApp and text messages.
Paisley Sheriff Court heard heroin addict Kerr, even had a price list offering discounts for bulk buys to his customers.
His range of controlled drugs featured deals on Oxycodone, Buprenorphine, Morphine, Nitrazepam and Diazepam.
However, the father-of-two from Argyle Street, Paisley, was rumbled by cops who found multiple bags of pills and a mobile phone containing messages covering his drug dealing.
Procurator Fiscal Depute Keri Marshall said officers gained entry to his property using an “approved device” at around 8.30am on December 5 last year.
She added: “The accused was in the living room.
“A systematic search of the locus was carried out and a very large quantity of items was recovered from the living room, and in particular, the coffee table.
“The accused was informed he was under arrest.
“A Samsung mobile was seized and sent for analysis.
“Text messages and WhatsApp messages between December 1 and 5 were recovered and these indicated his involvement with the sale and supply of controlled drugs.
“He had an online, app- based business operating for the purposes of selling controlled and pharmaceutical drugs.”
The court heard Kerr had 4,021 blue tablets, confirmed to be Etizolam known as street valium.
His price list offered 100 tablets for £ 35, with a potential value of more than £ 1,400 if he sold them at his discounted bulk rate.
A bag containing 33 Alprazolam tablets was also found, said to be worth around £66.
He had an online, appbased business operating for the purposes of selling controlled and pharmaceutical drugs Procurator Depute Fiscal, Keri Marshall
He was also found with 170 tablets Oxycodone, and according to his price list, could fetch £1,700.
Officers also found Buprenorphine said to be worth around £274.
While a stash of 400 Morphine pills worth £2,350 was also recovered.
Kerr was also selling Nitrazepam and Diazepam tablets, although he only had smaller quantities of both of these pills.
Yesterday Kerr pleaded guilty to seven charges of being concerned on the sale and supply of controlled drugs from his home in Paisley when he appeared in the dock at a pre- trial hearing.
Defence agent Paul Lynch said: “He was using a prodigious amount of heroin on a daily basis - six or seven grams a day.
“And to support an addiction of that magnitude, these offences occurred.”
Sheriff David Pender told the accused: “This is a serious matter.
“You have a drug addiction and here you are selling drugs to fund that and you are extending the misery of that addiction.”
He adjourned sentencing to call for background reports before deciding Kerr’s punishment.
He will learn his fate when he appears back at court on October 8.
Previously, Kerr was handed 58 weeks in prison after he was caught posting a parcel of Etizolam to a customer in Northern Ireland.