Jailed, drug dealer who tried to f ly heroin into prison on £400 drone
A DRUG trafficker who tried to fly heroin into a jail using a drone has been locked up after it crashed into a garden.
In what is believed to be the first conviction of its kind, John Grant admitted trying to smuggle drugs and mobile phones into a prison.
The 47-year-old was only caught after footage of him adjusting the settings was discovered on the drone’s camera after it crashed with its load of drugs and mobile phones, while a memory card contained GPS co-ordinates of his home address.
The drone was found by a woman in Redhall, Edinburgh, who noticed string strewn around her back garden.
As she gathered it up a sock attached to the string fell from the roof of her shed. She then found it was attached to a drone wedged between the shed and a fence.
In the sock lay three phones, two chargers and a haul of heroin and diazepam.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard the heroin was worth £11,000 but its value would be far more in prison.
Grant, formerly of Edinburgh, was identified from film on the drone and a search of his home found a further pound of heroin worth £48,000. He admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin between November 5 and 18 last year, attempting to fly the Class A drug and mobiles into Saughton jail, Edinburgh, on November 5 and piloting ‘an unmanned aircraft system’ at night, its aviation lights taped to make it invisible to other aircraft. Grant was on bail at the time.
He was jailed for five years and four months.
Judge John Morris, QC, said the crimes were aggravated by attempting to introduce ‘drugs and other contraband into one of Her Majesty’s prisons’.
Mr Morris added that the flying of the drone at night was ‘reckless in the extreme and could have had catastrophic consequences’.
Grant, a former mechanic, was previously jailed for 44 months for a drug trafficking offence.
Advocate depute Jim Keegan, prosecuting, said: ‘Footage from the early hours of November 4 showed the accused seated in his living room operating a remote controller and an electronic tablet to adjust the drone’s settings.’
Film from the drone making flights over the Loganlea and Saughton areas of the city on November 4 and 5 was also found.
Mr Keegan said that during the search of Grant’s home police also discovered a mould for pressing heroin and an iPad used to control the drone.
Mr Keegan added: ‘This drone was flown in a congested area with its aviation lights covered over so it could not be readily seen. The unannounced presence of the aircraft presented a potential danger to other aircraft, particularly emergency service helicopters, which operate in that area.’
Defence counsel Tony Lenehan said Grant ‘became a junior partner in a criminal enterprise’.
Sergeant Graeme Rankin of Police Scotland said: ‘People need to be aware a drone is governed by aviation legislation.’
‘Reckless in the extreme’