A Scots soldier caught dealing high-purity cocaine worth up to £47,000 has been jailed for three and a half years.
George Hunt was serving as a gunner in the First Royal Horse Artillery when he began dealing.
Just a week after he was discharged from the Army in October last year for failing a drugs test police, acting on a tip-off, stopped him on Dundee’s Duncan Place.
They searched his car and found a 125g bag of 75% purity cocaine – far stronger than the 10% pure drug commonly found on the streets.
Officers also found two kilos of a bulking agent used to cut the drug into smaller deals – meaning he could have turned the substances into drugs worth up to £46,850.
Last year, Sheriff Alastair Brown cited combat stress as the reason for taking an “exceptional course” in handing him a community payback order.
But after repeatedly flouting that order, Hunt, 23, of Helmsdale Avenue, was hauled back to Dundee Sheriff Court and jailed.
He pleaded guilty on indictment to being concerned in the supply of drugs in September and October 2016.
He further admitted charges of dangerous driving and driving without insurance.
Solicitor Kris Gilmartin said Hunt’s last tour of duty in Afghanistan had led him to turn to drink and drugs as a coping mechanism.
He said: “He is trying – in every sense of the word.”
Jailing Hunt, Sheriff Brown said: “When you first appeared in relation to the drug trafficking offence I took an exceptional course.
“I have continued to give you opportunities to co-operate and participate in various things on offer.
“I recognise your personal history is difficult and that probably explains why you have not entirely engaged properly. But the fact is you haven’t.”
Hunt was also banned from driving for two years on the dangerous driving charge.
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