A HEROIN dealer from Fife was caught with £1400 worth of the Class A drug after the police turned up at his home, Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard yesterday.

David Docherty, from Dunfermline, told the police he did not have any drugs on him and they could search the house if they liked.

However, the officers were tipped off that Docherty suspected there might be a raid and was seen going into a room in the house with the drugs and a tub of petroleum jelly.

Suspecting he had hidden the heroin in his rectum the police arrested him.

Docherty (37), of St Andrews Street, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of heroin at an address in Allan Crescent, Dunfermline, on March 9 of last year.

He also admitted two further charges of driving while disqualified and driving without insurance on Wedderburn Street in Dunfermline on February 13 of this year.

Depute fiscal Tracy Plant told Sheriff Ian Dunbar that Docherty originally appeared in connection with the drugs offence in May.

He was granted bail.

However, he fell foul of the law again when he was caught driving while disqualified in February.

Docherty was remanded in custody after appearing in connection with the driving offences.

Ms Plant said the police were tipped off the accused was dealing heroin from his home.

Officers went to his house and Docherty came to the door.

He agreed to let them in, told them there were no drugs in the house and gave them permission to search the property.

Someone else within the house told the police the accused had taken a package and a tub of petroleum jelly into another room.

Ms Plant added suspecting Docherty had hidden the drugs in his back passage the police arrested him.

He was taken to the police station in Dunfermline where he eventually handed over a package containing heroin.

He was placed back in a cell and later a second package was found.

One contained 13.58 grammes of the drug while the other had 13.59.

“The Crown accepts one was for his personal use,” Ms Plant said, adding the drugs had a potential street value of £1400.

That would have given Docherty a profit of £900.

Solicitor Stephen Morrison said his client wanted to have the matter dealt with as soon as possible and was prepared to “take his medicine.”

“He has had a deep-rooted problem for at least the last four or five years,” Mr Morrison added.

With financial help from family members he had undergone two short, sharp periods of detoxification.

However, neither worked and he began taking the drug again.

His habit was so bad he started selling heroin to feed his habit, which is what one of the packages was for.

The accused was also caught driving a car towing a caravan.

He already had six convictions for driving while disqualified.

Sheriff Dunbar heard the car belonged to Docherty’s brother and the caravan to his sister.

A pitch had been booked at a caravan park near Dunfermline and the accused planned to isolate himself there in an attempt to detox.

Sheriff Dunbar jailed Docherty for a total of 28 months, backdated to February 14.

He also banned him from driving for 10 years.