A cocaine dealer caught with thousands of pounds worth of drugs in a Perth city centre flat has been jailed.
Police forced their way into the property in New Row and found Scott Kerr and almost £3,000 worth of cocaine.
The 23-year-old’s DNA was found on the knot of a drug wrap.
At Dunfermline Sheriff Court, Kerr pled guilty to being concerned in supplying the Class A drug on October 21 2021.
Despite admitting the offence, he gave social workers an “odd retelling” of the reason for the forensic link to the drugs, claiming he had opened the wrap without knowing what was inside, then hurled the drugs under a sofa.
He was jailed for 21 months.
Offence
The court heard when officers raided the flat, they found Kerr, of Green Street in the east end of Glasgow, inside.
He was alone, despite not being the tenant.
Police seized various items including scales, gloves, cling film and three phones.
They found a blue wrap containing 26.7g of cocaine, as well as a tub containing three wraps of cocaine, weighing 0.39g each.
The larger wrap was valued at up to £2,670, with the smaller wraps worth around £100 each.
Story changed
Kerr had been due to stand trial before a jury but pled guilty to being concerned in supplying the drugs.
Sentencing had been deferred for reports to be prepared by social workers.
He told the interviewer he had been an unwitting party to the drugs operation.
Sheriff Susan Duff pointed out to Kerr’s solicitor: “Your client’s position to the social worker was he saw this, he picked it up to look at it, he noticed four wraps of cocaine, put the lid back on and threw it under the couch.
“It seems your client’s position is not consistent with a plea of guilty.”
Kerr’s lawyer replied: “I asked the same question – he says that he was simply giving a version of events.
“He understands his plea, he maintains his plea, he understands his involvement in the wrongdoing and the offending behaviour and he doesn’t deny the plea that he has made and the narrative that has been discussed with him.
“He has no real explanation.
“It seems like it’s simply an odd retelling of matters.”
Led astray by ‘friends’
The solicitor continued: “He hopes to return to factory work in Larkhall where he used to work before his father passed away.
“He has no analogous previous convictions.
“There’s no pattern of offending here – the real risk is if a pattern of offending emerges.
“The author (of the social work report) notes some risk factors, one of them being negative peer associations.
“These are the friends who he was with at the time of the offence.
“He said he’s distanced himself from these friends and he doesn’t want to be friends with these people any more.
“Perhaps that can mitigate some risk.”
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