A 53-year-old woman was caught driving through Perth with a lump of cannabis “the size of a football”.
The illicit haul, worth about £2,500, was found by police during a routine traffic stop in the city centre.
Mandy Kerr appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted being concerned in the supply of the class B drug at Kinnoull Causeway on July 15 2020.
She was told she could have been sent to prison.
Sheriff Gillian Wade said: “It is very clear to me that you were in possession of cannabis in order to supply others.
“Whether it was just for your friends or not does not matter.”
She said: “A custodial sentence is open to me but I do not believe it would address the underlying problems you obviously have.
“An alternative to custody is certainly available in this case.”
Kerr, of Newhouse Road, Perth, was ordered to carry out 225 hours of unpaid work.
She was also placed on supervision for a year.
Police recovered phone and cash
Fiscal depute Bill Kermode told Perth Sheriff Court how officers stopped Kerr’s Vauxhall Corsa in connection with an unrelated matter.
Around 245.5 grams of cannabis – which he described as the “size of a football” – was found on the passenger seat.
Mr Kermode called for the forfeiture of a mobile phone and £60.12 cash found alongside the drugs.
Solicitor John Paul Gallacher said his client planned to supply the cannabis with a “small group” of about five or six friends.
He said: “At the time, she had been using cannabis after the break-up of a relationship which lasted for 26 years.
“Although she was struggling to cope with the end of this relationship, her mental health has been improving and she no longer uses cannabis.”
Mr Gallacher said: “She is aware of the serious nature of this offence and the potential consequences.
“But she has been of good character and I suspect this will be an isolated incident – albeit she knows she should be punished, given the seriousness of what she has pleaded guilty to.”
