A drug dealer who told a sheriff “I want to go to jail” had his wish granted as he was locked up for four and a half years.
Heroin addict Michael Philbin was caught with nearly £10,000 worth of the drug stashed in his upstairs neighbour’s home during a police raid.
But he told Sheriff William Wood he wanted to go to prison because he was fed-up and tired after spending the majority of his adult life hooked on heroin.
Philbin told Perth Sheriff Court: “I take responsibility for it all. I want to go to jail.”
Solicitor John McLaughlin, defending, said: “He has tried in the past to get help with his addiction, but he has not been strong enough to follow that up.
“He is sick and tired of using heroin. Going to prison may offer him an opportunity to get clean from the drug.”
Philbin, 49, of Strathtay Road, Perth, admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin at his own home and that of his upstairs neighbour on May 9 last year.
Fiscal depute Gavin Letford said: “Police Scotland got intelligence to suggest Michael Philbin was involved in the supply of large amounts of diamorphine. He was using his neighbour’s flat to store the drugs.”
Philbin was traced during a raid on the flats and found to have a large number of empty plastic bags in his pocket as he made his way to the flat where the drugs were stashed.
In a matching bag inside the neighbour’s bedroom drawer, officers recovered 92 grams of heroin with a potential street value of £9,200. The mother-of-one admitted she had been using her home as a safe house for Philbin’s drugs.
Philbin was found to have £800 cash in his flat and claimed he had put the money aside to redecorate after getting a new heating system installed. The cash was forfeited by the court.
Mr McLaughlin said Philbin claimed the plastic bags were for clearing up dog mess after taking his pet alsation out for a walk.