Attempts to recover more than £26,000 from a convicted Perth and Kinross drugs dealer have been hit by further delays.
Prosecutors believe Stewart Somerville could have made nearly £100,000 from the drug trade, despite him claiming he only peddled cannabis to “nice people”.
Somerville said he was dealing drugs on the side to friends after using his inheritance to buy a large quantity of the drug.
The 52-year-old denied dealing drugs and claimed he was smoking around 40 joints every day in the wake of a close relative’s death.
But a jury found him guilty and the Crown has claimed that Somerville made vast profits from the illicit cannabis trade.
Prosecutors allege that £26,922 of that sum is recoverable and they lodged a Proceeds of Crime case against Somerville.
At Perth Sheriff Court on Thursday solicitor David Holmes said substantial discussions had taken place regarding a reduction in the amount of money being sought from his client.
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis heard that it was hoped a conclusion could be reached by the end of this month.
Somerville’s Dunning home was raided and officers discovered a stash of cannabis, along with £8,000 in his bedroom and a further £800 under his pillow.
Two mobile phones were recovered and were found to contain incriminating messages including: “Friend desperate for a smoke” and “Are you going to be in tonight to get a wee bit?”
When interviewed by officers, Somerville told them: “I’m not a big drug lord. It’s just for friends, really. They’re nice people.”
He said he had inherited around £30,000 from his late mother’s estate and bought himself a large consignment of cannabis with it.
He told the jury he was not a drug dealer but simply had a prodigious appetite for the drug that led to him smoking nearly 300 joints per week.
Somerville said he had passed the drug on to a small circle of friends and to his 20-year-old daughter, but rejected the Crown’s assertion he was a drug dealer.
However, the jury found him guilty of drug dealing from his home in April 2013 and he was jailed for two years.
Prior to the start of the trial, he also admitted possessing cocaine and cannabis.
When Somerville was arrested, he expressed concern about his inheritance and whether it would be passed on to his children.
