Dane used jail term to turn his life around

IT is a lifestyle that can trap people in a vicious cycle of prison and crime and sometimes ends in violence or worse.

But one former drug dealer has managed to turn his life around and wants to encourage others to do the same.

Ex-army sniper Dane Carroll, who releases music under the alias Metagold, was found guilty of supplying Class A drugs worth nearly £900,000 at the High Court in Edinburgh and sentenced to five years in prison.

But having been released from jail in November after serving two years in HMP Perth, he is adamant he is “not returning to that lifestyle”.

The 31-year-old, who lives in Fairmuir, said his life has always been lived at “100mph”.

Having started performing and producing music, it seemed like the curtain had come down on his burgeoning career after he was snared by police. At the point of his conviction, his tune On The Pavement had racked up 40,000 views on YouTube.

Dane knew he wanted to “turn the negative situation into a positive” by penning the tracks to his latest releases Jumper and The Pen while serving his time.

“I couldn’t escape the lifestyle before I went to jail, I was so involved. The music was a big part of me trying to get away, I was trying to go the right way but I was just too infused in it,” said Dane.

“I’ll be honest, when I was sentenced I was thankful it had come to an end and the time in prison helped me. I could have got involved in activity on the inside but I knew this was the turning point in my life.”

Dane’s road into the murky underworld of drug dealing had come after being honourably discharged from the armed forces.

He’d become a sniper in the Argyll regiment at age 19 before going on his first tour of Afghanistan in 2010 for seven months.

He added: “I joined the Argylls in 2008, I did a nine-week course as a sniper and completed the course with distinction at 19.

“It was mad, the experience of being out there. That seven-month tour was enough for me, I came back to do my course to become a corporal and completed that but my behaviour deteriorated.

“Going out and experiencing all that – I was just a baby really. I did suffer PTSD before I was given an honourable discharge in 2015.

“When I came out I got into the drug cycle and lifestyle, but despite being able to afford the material possessions, it’s not a good life – always looking over your shoulder and not being able to sleep.”

Dane, who is now working as a barber in Salon Fierce near St John’s High, hopes his story shows people they can turn their life around.

He added: “Going to prison doesn’t have to be something that stops your life. Putting that graft in and earning my money legitimately has been the best thing I could do to silence those who didn’t think I could change.”

Dane has already released two music videos to coincide with Jumper and The Pen which have led to fans from Russia and America taking an interest in the Scottish rap scene.

He added: “I’m very excited. I’ve written a lot of material and I’m eager to get it out there.”

Dane releases his rap music under the alias of Metagold.