A Perth dealer who said he was forced into peddling heroin for Liverpool gangsters has been jailed for 16 months.
William Clements told social workers he “stupidly” agreed to traffic thousands of pounds of class A drugs after menacing debt collectors turned up on his doorstep.
The 51-year-old was arrested after police monitoring an “undercover organised crime group,” swooped on his home in the city’s Logie Crescent.
He was caught with nearly 100g of heroin, as well as £2,800 cash and two mobile phones.
Clements pled guilty to being concerned in the supply of heroin on December 18 2020 when he appeared at Perth Sheriff Court.
Drug debts
Fiscal depute Emma Farmer confirmed the drugs had a street value of around £3,700.
When interviewed, Clements told police he had paid £1,000 for the heroin and had arranged to collect it from a “Liverpudlian” at a local retail park.
Solicitor Linda Clark, defending, said: “Previously, he had a long-standing heroin addiction but prior to this he had been abstinent.
“However, his partner – the former co-accused – was still using heroin.
“She had accumulated a fair amount of debt in relation to her drug use.
“That resulted in persons turning up at the door of the house, asking for money.
“It was at a level that they simply could not repay.”
Ms Clark said: “Stupidly, Mr Clements accepted an offer made to him, to clear the debt by transportation of diamorphine.
“But the police were on his tail quite quickly and after one day he was apprehended and arrested.”
She said her client is now “clean” and does not have a “prolific record”.
‘Scourge on society’
Sheriff Jennifer Bain KC told Clements: “I note that you take full responsibility, albeit there does seem to be a minimisation in relation to your actions.
“This is despite the fact you paid £1,000 up-front for the drugs and there was a plan in place for you to sell these drugs.”
She said: “As you should well understand – given the impact this incident has had on your family – drugs are a scourge on society and you have played an important part in that supply chain by following the course of actions that you did.
“There is unfortunately no alternative to a custodial sentence.”
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