Boozed up ex-sailor caught behind the wheel with drugs stash

A former sailor was caught drink-driving with a stash of cocaine in his motor when he was pulled over by cops.

Brendan Black, 24, who served in the Royal Navy until last week, was nabbed at the wheel of his white Audi A3 on the M8 at Junction 27, near Renfrew, on January 27.

Paisley Sheriff Court heard Black was nearly three times the legal limit when he was stopped by police for his ropey driving.

However, officers also discovered he was transporting 22 individual deals of cocaine in his car and promptly placed him under arrest.

Procurator Fiscal Depute Mark Nicol said: “The average value applied by the Statement of Opinion (STOP) officers was £40 for each of the 22 grams of cocaine.

“That is a value of £880 for the 22 wraps.

“Each of them weighed between 0.9 and 1.1 grams and tested positive for cocaine.”

Black, of Denny Road, Dumbarton, pleaded guilty to a charge of having Class-A drug cocaine in his possession with intent to supply and to driving while the proportion of alcohol was 55 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 22 micrograms.

A defence agent claimed that first offender Black was “only transporting” the drugs on the evening in question but realised it was still “a very serious charge.”

He said: “He was not involved in the sale of drugs. He had taken these drugs into his car.

“He agreed to hold them.

“However, he accepts that was him being concerned in the supply of drugs.

“He very much regrets his actions and has been swamped with feelings of anxiety about being sent to prison.”

The lawyer said Black, who left the navy last week, realised he would banned from the roads after being caught drink-driving.

He added: “He has no previous convictions and realises he will be disqualified. He has not driven since the evening concerned.”

On Friday, Sheriff Hugh McGinty told him: “You are right to be concerned and anxious about going to prison given the nature of charge one.

“Not only were you drink-driving, you were using the vehicle to transport a substantial amount of Class-A drugs.

“This is a very serious charge and ordinarily you would be given a prison sentence.”

He disqualified Black from driving for 14 months, ordered him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and fined him £420.