A self-styled “cannabis connoisseur” told police a massive £9,000 stash found at his Perth flat was for his own personal use.
Garage worker Gary Winton said he “loved” to smoke weed and knew which varieties were best for waking you up in the mornings and which ones could help you sleep at night.
The 31-year-old told a jury at Perth Sheriff Court nearly a kilo of the class B drug, recovered by police from his property in the city’s Gowrie Street, belonged to him but he denied he was a dealer.
However, jurors took just over an hour to find Winton guilty of being concerned in the supply of cannabis.
The keen skateboarder, a first-time offender, now faces jail for his role in the local drugs scene.
Sheriff’s warning
At the end of the two-day trial, Sheriff William Wood told Winton: “There was a substantial amount of cannabis found in your flat and you have always acknowledged ownership of that.
“Because of the nature and seriousness of the charge you have been found guilty of, I cannot deal with this today.”
Sentence was deferred until June 27 for background reports.
The sheriff added: “I am content to release you on bail in the meantime, but be clear that does not foreshadow what will happen to you at the end of this.”
Scales ‘to know how much I’m smoking’
The court heard officers swooped on Winton’s flat armed with a search warrant on March 4 2019.
They uncovered several tubs of cannabis, as well as scales and plastic snap-bags with traces of the drug.
Winton told jurors he bought his drugs with money he made fixing and building vintage bicycles.
He said the scales were used to weigh bike parts, while the bags were used to hold small bolts and nuts.
When cross-examined by fiscal depute Michael Dunlop, Winton admitted he also used the scales to weigh cannabis “to know how much I’m smoking in a day”.
The trial heard Winton had been using weed for 10 years and was – he claims – smoking about half-an-ounce each day.
“You love to smoke cannabis, don’t you?” asked Mr Dunlop.
“Yes, it’s true,” Winton replied.
Stardog and Nebula
When told by police that nearly a kilo of cannabis was found in his flat, Winton responded: “I didn’t realise there was that much in my house, to be honest.”
He added: “It’s better to buy in bulk.”
During his police interview, Winton refused to name who he bought the drugs from.
“I’m honest up until the point I get someone in trouble,” he said.
“I know the people I buy it from and we have a trusting relationship.”
Winton told the trial: “I would consider myself a connoisseur.
“It was all for personal use.”
He reeled off the names of some “flavours” he used at different times of the day, such as Stardog, Nebula and Gelato.
Solicitor Linda Clark, defending, said her client had always admitted possession of the cannabis.
“If he was some wily drug dealer, he would have told police: ‘That’s not mine, I was looking after it for someone else’,” she said.
