A ‘cog’ in a drugs operation that involved taking almost £200,000 worth of amphetamine in a car from Glasgow to Dundee was jailed for 40 months.
Perth Sheriff Court heard how drug addict James Kerr, 51, of HM Perth Prison, owed gangsters £2,000 as a “debt” so he “foolishly” agreed to travel to Tayside with bags of the class-B drug in his partner’s car in a bid to clear any money owed.
The court hear Kerr felt the only way to clear the debt was to take the drug, with the street name speed, up to Dundee. Unfortunately for Kerr, police had received a tip-off that he was on his way to Tayside and officers saw him driving near Glendoick around 3pm on the day in question.
Depute Fiscal John Malpass said: “The accused was stopped near the Inchmichael junction.
“The accused was detained and taken to Dundee Police HQ where he was searched. No drugs were found on him but officers then scoured the car and found two bags containing five blocks of a substance in one, and four blocks in the other.”
The court heard these ‘blocks’ were analysed and they were found to be 17.7 kilos of amphetamine, with an individual street value of £177,000. Police also discovered he was a disqualified driver.
Kerr’s solicitor said his client had “appeared regularly” in Glasgow courts since the mid-1980s and confirmed he had been a drug addict for “many, many years.”
However, the solicitor said Kerr became “drug free” when he began a relationship with a Glasgow café and ice cream shop owner, at which point he felt his life was “on the up.”
“My client helped in the shop but some associates who he owed £2000 started coming in to speak to him,” he said.
“He…then confessed to his partner about his past and this debt.
“He arranged to meet two of the group at 12.30pm in Glasgow and they told him to set the car’s ‘satellite navigation system for an address in Dundee, where he was to hand over two bags of drugs. My client foolishly agreed to do so – it was nearly 18 kilos of amphetamine.”
Kerr had admitted that on June 25 on the A90 Perth to Dundee road, between Glendoick and Inchmichael, he was concerned in the supply of amphetamine – a class ‘B’ drug.
Sentencing Kerr, Sheriff Lindsay Foulis told him: “I don’t need to tell you the position I have to take with someone who is concerned in the supply of drugs – you will be sufficiently streetwise.
“You were a cog in this operation.”
Kerr’s sentence was backdated to June 27. He was also banned from driving for five years.
