Man jailed after police find drugs
Claimed stash was for pals after cops raid his house
A group of pals pooled their cash to get a supply of hard drugs at bargain prices, a court heard.
But detectives found the cocaine and heroin bought by Rory Colman before he could divvy it up.
Police raided his house and seized several packages of the Class ‘A’ drugs with a wholesale value estimated at more than £700.
Colman ( 20) pled guilty to being concerned in the supply of controlled drugs at his home in Mansfield Court, Bathgate, on December 4, 2015.
His “social supply” enterprise ended when he was sentenced to seven and a half months detention at Livingston Sheriff Court last week.
Alistair Macleod, prosecuting, said police got a search warrant for the council house rented by Colman and forced entry to the premises.
They found the accused in a bedroom and recovered three bags of white powder and a bag of brown powder from the property.
He said: “Examination of these items indicated that the white powder was cocaine weighing 19.9 grammes and valued at £530 if bought in bulk.
“The brown powder was diamorphine weighing 6.4 grammes and worth £ 200 if bought in bulk.”
Mr Macleod said Colman gave a ‘no comment’ interview and made no reply when he was cautioned and charged with being concerned in the supply of controlled drugs.
Glen Fraser, defending, said Colman’s position was that this was “social supply” because he and four of his friends had pooled their money to buy the drugs and share them.
He said: “He was unfortunately the person who purchased the drugs and he still had them at his address when the police came.
“It could just as easily have been one of the others.
“His position is that all those drugs were bought for £270 in total.
“The items were bought in bulk to be shared between them.”
He said social workers had described Colman as “impulsive” and “having made poor choices”.
He added: “The report indicates a fairly troubled background: he was a looked after child in residential care, not the best possible start in the world.
“He now seems to have made a decision to stop using these types of drugs.”
Sentencing Colman to 230 days detention, Sheriff Douglas Kinloch told him he had admitted a serious charge.
He said: “Your solicitor has argued for a non- custodial sentence, founded mainly on the fact that you said you were only concerned in supplying your friends.
“Even if what you say is true, illegal drugs have to be paid for and people commit crimes such as shoplifting to pay for drugs.
“Your convictions show you have not led a law-abiding life. You’ve breached an unpaid work order and a second has been suspended due to the way you were behaving.
“You have not taken advantage of the opportunities given to you to avoid a custodial sentence.”
The sheriff went on: “You continue to misuse drugs and you’re assessed as being at high risk of reoffending.
“You’re a young man and I’ve given your case considerable thought but I’m not persuaded that there’s any other way to deal with these serious charges other than by a custodial sentence.”
No way to deal with these serious charges other than custodial sentence