Cocaine user gets jail warning from sheriff

Search by police reveals drug in car

A man caught with cocaine outside Blair Drummond Safari Park was last week given 225 hours’ unpaid work.

But Alan McFarlane was warned that if he offended again he would be going to jail.

The 43-year-old had admitted a charge of having the class-A drug in his possession in Lime Avenue, near the safari park, on December 22 last year.

The fiscal depute told Stirling Sheriff Court last Wednesday (June 12) that two officers in uniform had been on mobile patrol at 11pm that day within a marked police vehicle.

They saw a white car on the road and due to its location stopped their vehicle to find out if everything was well.

The driver of the car identified himself as McFarlane. The officers had cause to search the vehicle under the Misuse of Drugs Act, added the fiscal depute.

During the search a bag of white powder was found weighing 1.9g. The bag tested positive for cocaine with a street value of between £40 to £100.

McFarlane’s agent told the court that the class-A drug was found in a chewing gum container within a front door pocket of the car. McFarlane accepted that the item was in his possession.

The solicitor explained that McFarlane, of Cowan Crescent, Ayr, had been in the area for a family party and was the designated driver of the vehicle.

The solicitor also pointed out that McFarlane doesn’t drink and had not ingested drugs that evening.

It was also stressed that he had been in a long-term relationship with his current partner and they have two dependent children.

McFarlane, said the lawyer, worked in the construction industry and earned around £330 per week. His partner however does not work.

He said McFarlane recognised that the court would be displeased with this further offence, pointing out: “He has now become involved in a number of drug matters in a relatively short period of time. He has brought himself to the attention of the court again. He is a recreational user of particular drugs and therefore there is a difficulty.”

The solicitor said that McFarlane had previously had a job with a local authority in his home area for sixteen years. However, he lost that job as a result of a drugs conviction.

McFarlane, who supported his family through his work, was the only breadwinner, he said.

It was also pointed out that a community payback order previously imposed by the courts on McFarlane only had a few weeks to run.

The lawyer – who said that McFarlane wished to put drug misuse behind him – asked Sheriff Wyllie Robertson to consider imposing a community payback order with unpaid work as an alternative to custody.

Sheriff Robertson sentenced McFarlane to a community payback order comprising 200 hours’ unpaid work to be completed within six weeks – reduced from 225 hours’ – due to the timing of the plea, but he told him: “Any further offending and you will be going to jail.”