A drug dealer has been jailed after she was caught with heroin worth more than £61,000 in her home.
Natasha Gilligan, of Beauly Avenue, was jailed for four and a half years after a jury found her guilty of being involved in dealing the Class A drug.
A sheriff blasted Gilligan for adding to the “misery” of Dundee’s drug death shame and said he had no alternative but to send her to jail.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard Gilligan was convicted of being concerned in the supply of heroin at her Kirkton home between May 16 and November 24 2017.
Analysis showed the drugs recovered had a total value of £61,500.
Gilligan, a first offender, was also found guilty of being concerned in the supply of amphetamine, a Class B drug and the Class C drug alprazolam during the same time period.
Defence solicitor Theo Finlay told Sheriff Alastair Carmichael there was very little he could say in terms of mitigation.
He said that Gilligan, 43, continued to maintain her position that she was “not guilty” of the charges.
Mr Finlay said there were alternatives to custody available to the court, by way of a community-based order or a restriction of liberty order.
But Sheriff Carmichael believed a jail term was the only appropriate sentence for Gilligan given the seriousness of her offence.
Sending her to prison, the sheriff said: “You were convicted by the jury of three contraventions of the Misuse of Drugs Act.
“The most serious is being concerned in the supply of heroin which had a maximum value of £61,500.
“You allowed your house to be used for storing this drug, that’s why the jury found you guilty.
“I have to note Dundee has a drugs death rate right above the national average and anyone concerned in the supply of this particular drug at any level and in any way contributes to this misery.
“There is no alternative but a custodial sentence in this case.”
