A drug dealer caught supplying heroin worth £14,500 from inside Perth Prison has been jailed for nearly three more years.
Joseph Crawford, 38, was found with nearly 29 grams of the drug when prison officers searched his cell.
Officers recovered four wraps of an unknown substance from a tobacco packet on a fellow prisoner and decided to search Crawford’s cell.
Depute Fiscal Carol Whyte said: “When the searching officers got into the cell, the accused was on the toilet trying to conceal something. In total 29.06 grams of brown powder containing diamorphine was recovered.”
She added: “They provided a maximum potential value of £14,500 in the prison system or £2,900 outwith prison.”
Crawford is presently serving a six-month sentence for possession of diazepam and at the time of the offence was serving a four month sentence for shoplifting.
Solicitor Gordon Parker-Smith told the court that responsibility for bringing the drugs into the prison lay with another prisoner.
He said: “When this individual was moved to another hall Mr Crawford was prevailed upon to look after the drugs.”
Sheriff William Wood told Crawford: “At age 38 you really should be starting to understand, particularly in light of your previous convictions, that those involved in class A drugs can expect a custodial sentence.”
Crawford admitted that on March 16 2015 at HM Prison, Edinburgh Road, Perth, he was concerned in the supply of diamorphine (heroin). Sheriff Wood sentenced him to two years and 50 weeks in prison.
