Jailed, drug dealer who hid £350k in a child’s bank account

A DRUG dealer who hid £353,000 in a child’s bank account has been jailed for six years.

James Clark, 37, also used the homes of family members to stash cash from peddling cocaine, heroin and cannabis.

He was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday after he admitted to being concerned in the supply of controlled drugs.

Clark, of Maryhill, Glasgow, also pleaded guilty to the culpable and reckless discharge of a firearm in Glasgow in 2020.

Judge Lord Scott said: ‘You took part knowingly for a period of two years in a significant criminal organisation.’ Speaking after sentencing, deputy procurator fiscal Sineidin Corrins said Clark was ‘responsible for the supply of drugs on a huge scale’ and his conviction had ‘made communities safer’.

Clark had been involved in serious organised crime between March 2020 and April 2022 at various addresses in the city.

The court heard how his sister alerted police after finding a cash-filled suitcase in her hall cupboard. She told officers Clark had been living at her home for a time.

Police found £173,000 and €16,000 inside the case and later uncovered covert messages that linked Clark to the third-party sale, supply and purchase of controlled drugs.

A search of his late father’s house revealed £12,800 in a shrink-wrapped bag, while luxury goods and £32,000 in a carrier bag were found at Clark’s partner’s home.

A Royal Bank of Scotland

‘Facilitate the conduct’

children’s saver account controlled by Clark had a balance of £353,000 in November 2021.

Clark was made the subject of a three-year Serious Crime Prevention Order and of proceedings to recover monies gained through crime.

Defence counsel Thomas Ross, KC, said Clark had lost his parents and built up debt.

He told the court: ‘These circumstances brought him into contact with the type of people who would facilitate the conduct described.’