Jailed, pair whose legal highs put 13-year-old boy in hospital
TWO men who sold ‘legal highs’ – putting users as young as 13 in hospital – were yesterday jailed for a total of nine years.
Paul Brocklehurst, 62, and Liston Pacitti, 28, admitted supplying ‘new psychoactive substances’.
Together, they ran retail company Bropac Ltd. It is understood that through this firm they operated several separate outlets.
Two men were also left in comas after taking a substance sold by Brocklehurst, from Tregarth in Wales. His shop in Perth was exposed by a BBC documentary, The Deadly World of Legal Highs.
Pacitti, of Aberdeen, sold similar products at his stores in Arbroath and Montrose, both in Angus.
They were repeatedly warned by police they were endangering customers. But they carried on, taking in up to £6,500 a week.
At Dundee Sheriff Court yesterday, Brocklehurst tried to compare himself to Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi, claiming ‘Scottish justice’ was on trial.
But Sheriff Alistair Brown jailed the pair for four-and-a-half years each, telling them: ‘You were lost to human decency, placing personal profit above the health of those from whom you sought to make that profit.’
The court heard two men who took a substance called Psyclone fell into comas. Fiscal depute Vicki Bell said: ‘One was admitted to a high dependency unit.’
Two boys aged 13 and 14 were found heavily under the influence of substances sold in Brockle- hurst’s shop. The 13-year-old was taken to hospital with heart palpitations and hallucinations.
Experts said substances the accused sold were potentially fatal. In court, both pleaded guilty to culpably and recklessly supplying new psychoactive substances to the danger of health and life.
Brocklehurst’s offences were committed between July 3, 2013, and July 29, 2015. Pacitti’s were committed between July 3, 2013, and December 7, 2014.
When their shops were raided by police, officers seized 2,644 packets of new psychoactive substances and £7,853.88 in cash.
Defending himself, Brocklehurst said: ‘It’s not myself on trial; it’s the Scottish legal system. If we look through history, courts came up with decisions – time will be the decision-maker.
‘If we take Gandhi or Mandela, I’m just a little midget. I’m not in the same league as these illustrious figures. Only time will decide if the system is fair or unjust.’
Craig Findlater, defending Pacitti, said: ‘He is realistic about the likely outcome.’
Passing sentence, Sheriff Brown said: ‘It is perfectly clear you were cynically exploiting what you thought was a gap in the law in order to make significant amounts of money. But you were wrong.’
‘You were lost to human decency’