A man avoided jail today after supplying friends with ecstasy pills that made them ill.
Kyle Stenhouse, 21, dished out the illegal drug to pals while socialising at a house in a posh city suburb over the Christmas holidays on December 28 last year.
Five young men were rushed to hospital after taking the red tablets, known as MasterCards, at the property in Westhill on the outskirts of Aberdeen.
The men all became unwell shortly after taking the drug with one man appearing to take a seizure after swallowing one of the pills.
Paramedics arrived at the scene shortly afterwards and took the men to hospital for treatment after it became clear that they had taken an illegal substance.
Stenhouse was being sick in the back garden of the property when police turned up at the Westhill Crescent family home a short time later.
He admitted being concerned in the supply of the Class A drug when he appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court last month and was sentenced today.
Fiscal depute Alan Townsend previously told the court that the men had been drinking alcohol together before Stenhouse offered them the drugs.
He said: “They continued to drink alcohol within the locus and at that time the accused produced a bag of red MasterCard tablets.
“The accused offered these tablets to the witnesses all of whom took them along with him.”
All of the young men began to feel unwell and light-headed shortly afterwards although it soon became clear that one of Stenhouse’s friends was suffering the worst reaction.
Mr Townsend said: “Lloyd Shand appeared to take a seizure and started foaming at the mouth.
“Realising that something was wrong with him, an ambulance was contacted.”
Paramedics were called out at 3:50am and arrived to find Mr Shand making unusual noises and holding his chest. He had a heart rate of 180 beats per minute and was believed to have taken a stimulant.
More ambulances were sent to the scene along with the police.
Yesterday defence lawyer Charles Benzies said his client wanted to apologise to the families of the men affected.
He added: “He would also like to thank the police and the ambulance service for their prompt response to this.”
And Mr Benzies said the case should act as a salutary lesson to anyone buying this type of drug.
Stenhouse works as a trainee chemical engineer but has been suspended form his job since his involvement in the offence came to light.
The court heard he was also studying for an HNC in mechanical engineering and was likely to be continuing with the course next year.
Mr Benzies said his client had not intended to make a profit from selling illegal drugs.
The lawyer said: “He bought them for 50 pounds.
“There was no money involved in this.”
Describing the incident as a “one off”, he said his client had learned from his experience of what can happen when taking illegal drugs.
Sheriff Christine McCrossan said she had no doubt that the incident had been a harrowing experience for Stenhouse given the remorse he had shown in background reports previously ordered by the court.
He was given a community payback order and told to carry out 125 hours of unpaid work in the community as a direct alternative to a custodial sentence.
