A man swallowed 53g of heroin in an apparent attempt to smuggle it into prison — where it would have been worth £33,000.
Steven Rachwal, 28, was jailed for 22 months at Dundee Sheriff Court after he admitted a charge of being concerned in the supply of the Class A drug.
The court heard Rachwal — who claimed to be clean of using drugs at the time of the offence — had ingested the heroin then intentionally got himself arrested.
Fiscal depute Vicki Bell said: “At 9.30pm on December 7 last year the accused was arrested for a shoplifting matter.
“He said he was better off in jail and was taken to police headquarters where he was charged and placed in a cell.”
Shortly after midnight a custody nurse checked on him, due to suspicion he was intoxicated, and half an hour later his condition had seriously deteriorated and he was losing consciousness.
At 12.50am he was given emergency medication which, after some time, began to raise his level of consciousness.
The fiscal continued: “The accused went to the toilet within his cell and prison officers saw two packages in the toilet.
“He then vomited and another package was found.
“He was taken to Ninewells Hospital and given an X-ray but no further packages were found.”
The three packages contained heroin, with a total street value of £6,770 and potential prison value of £33,000. The fiscal said: “It is suspected he intentionally shoplifted in order to get these drugs into prison.”
Solicitor Gary Fowlis, defending, said Rachwal had been asked to take the drugs into prison in an attempt to clear another party’s “significant” drug debt.
Mr Fowlis added: “He was asked to assist with the supply chain.
“He picked up the drugs in Charleston and was supposed to drop them off in Douglas.
“Along the way he stopped and had some tonic wine and started to think about the fact he had a large amount of drugs on him.”
Rachwal, a prisoner at Perth, admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin, a Class A drug, at Nethergate and in a cell at the custody suite in police headquarters, West Bell Street, on December 7 and 8 last year. He committed the offence while on licence.
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