A drug dealer was caught red-handed with a stash worth more than £45,000 after he smoked heroin in the Overgate toilets and set off fire alarms.
Christopher Kinghorn was then found in a taxi just yards from Dundee’s police HQ by officers out looking for him.
Kinghorn had jumped in the taxi with more than half a kilo of heroin, a kilo of amphetamine and 16,000 etizolam tablets stashed in a rucksack and carrier bag.
Police stopped the cab on the city’s North Marketgait – which runs past Bell Street police HQ – after CCTV operators were ordered to trace his movements when he left the shopping centre.
Fiscal depute Sue Ruta told Dundee Sheriff Court: “Around 4pm on March 23, CCTV operators were requested to trace the accused who had been setting off fire alarms by burning drugs in the toilets.
“He was found in a stationary taxi nearby.
“He was in possession of a rucksack and Tesco bag and was searched.
“A number of bags containing drugs were found.
“That included a total of 697.49 grams of diamorphine, valued at £27,890. There were 1,252 grams of amphetamine with a potential value of £12,520.
“And he had 16,173 etizolam tablets with a potential value of £16,173.
“The accused also had £1,432.34 in his possession.”
Kinghorn, 40, a prisoner at Perth, pleaded guilty on indictment to being concerned in the supply of heroin, amphetamine and etizolam on March 23 at North Marketgait, Dundee.
He further admitted being in possession of a knife on the same date at the same place.
His solicitor John Boyle said: “He had run up a significant drug debt in excess of a thousand pounds and certain individuals had asked him to move these drugs along with the cash from one address to another.
“He was in the process of doing that when he stopped to smoke heroin, drawing police attention to him.
“This would have made inroads into his debt.”
Sheriff Alastair Brown deferred sentence for social work background reports until July and remanded Kinghorn in custody.
This article originally appeared on the Evening Telegraph website. For more information, read about our new combined website.