A Perth restaurant worker caught with a suitcase containing £10,000 of cannabis has been ordered to pay back just £760.
Prosecutors launched a confiscation action against Jamie Hunter after police discovered the hidden stash under his bed.
The 32-year-old was jailed for 15 months in August, after pleading guilty to being involved in supply of the class B drug.
A proceeds of crime hearing was held at Perth Sheriff Court to claw back money he made from his role in the illicit trade.
The court heard Hunter, who appeared from prison via videolink, was not “sitting pretty” despite dealing cannabis for several months.
He had got involved in trading drugs after running up debts of £15,000.
Both the crown and Hunter’s solicitor agreed that he should only pay back £760.
Played down crime
At his sentencing hearing, Hunter had tried to play down his involvement in the local drug trade, insisting that he was simply looking after the suitcase for someone else.
Sheriff William Wood questioned suspicious texts found on phones at the property, along with paraphernalia including scales with traces of cannabis and a hand-written price list.
Police raided Hunter’s home in Sidlaw Park, St Madoes, in March last year.
Hunter almost immediately admitted to officers there was a suitcase containing cannabis under his bed.
The court was told that he began dealing after running up debts of £15,000.
He was worried he was going to lose his home, solicitor Louisa Wade said.
Hunter had been taking cannabis to calm his nerves, she said, and he had been looking at ways to fund his habit.
At the previous hearing, Ms Wade said: “He is not someone who was sitting pretty, he was someone who was in a pickle.”
She said her client had been “too nice and naive”.
Sheriff Wood told Hunter: “This was not a one-off, this was something you were involved in for six months.
“It may be that you felt obliged to look after someone else’s stash but it goes beyond that.”
“All of the factors suggest you were involved – or you allowed your home to be involved – in a sophisticated operation.”