The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Cocaine dealer ‘brought low by ‘demons’ is jailed for 40 months
A drug dealer has claimed “demons came out of the woodwork” to entrap him as his financial woes led him deeper into criminality.
Adrian Coalter had been given a “devastating” medical diagnosis, forcing him to quit his job and start selling off assets to make ends meet.
As he did so, the 38-year-old claims shady criminal elements approached him with the offer of easy money for holding illicit substances.
Coalter’s solicitor said his client had unwisely grasped the opportunity offered as he “had not been thinking clearly”.
No sooner had he taken delivery of the drugs, Perth Sheriff Court heard certain parties had passed information to the police.
Officers carried out a raid on his home in Woodside Crescent, Perth, and found £8,000 worth of cocaine.
They had secured a search warrant, which Coalter took a few moments to read before making a full confession.
He told the officers: “You’ve caught me red-handed.
“There’s stuff in the kitchen. No one else was involved.”
They recovered a large plastic tub containing 76.34g of white powder from a cupboard.
Analysis revealed it was cocaine with an illicit street value of as much as £7,600 – far more than could reasonably be considered “for personal use”.
Coalter subsequently admitted being concerned in the supply of class-A drugs on November 10 last year.
The accused was already known to the authorities in light of 19 previous criminal convictions, including five for drugs offences.
He was jailed for two years and three months in 2012 after being stopped on the A9, along with an accomplice, as he transported cocaine by car.
The court has heard Coalter’s own drug use has taken a catastrophic toll on his health, exacerbating a congenital heart defect.
“The initial prognosis was poor and he could not see a way out,” said solicitor Paul Ralph.
“Demons crawled out of the woodwork and he was offered easy money for holding items.”
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis said the offence justified “a significant custodial sentence” as he jailed Coalter for 40 months.