A dad who admitted having a haul of class A and B drugs in his home has been allowed to keep thousands of pounds in cash that was also seized by police.
Michael Fernyhough insisted he found more than £7,000 worth of drugs stashed in a tree in his garden while searching for his son’s football.
When police raided his home at 62 Cattofield Place, Aberdeen, they also found more than £5,500 in cash spread throughout the house, which they believed to be proceeds of crime.
But at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday, a sheriff accepted Fernyhough’s explanation that the money came from a compensation pay-out, his son’s pocket money and coins left to him by his late father.
The 49-year-old told a proceeds of crime hearing that the cash had been kept in the house at the request of his wife, Heather, who was uncomfortable with the thought of keeping it in the bank and wanted it where she could see it.
He said the money was going to be used to pay off the family’s mounting debts, which had built up since Mrs Fernyhough was diagnosed with fibromyalgia.
He produced documents which proved the bulk of the money came from a successful claim against a bank for mis-sold PPI insurance.
The father-of-two also convinced Sheriff William Summers that a stash of coins – also thought to be ill-gotten gains – was in fact bequeathed to him by his late father.
Representing Fernyhough, solicitor Shane Campbell said: “The accused can demonstrate that the money was legitimate, irrespective of the fact that he has been convicted of a crime.”
He added that his client could prove he did not lead a criminal lifestyle.
Sheriff Summers said Fernyhough had been a “credible and reliable witness” and agreed to release the money back to the family.
The court previously heard Fernyhough had admitted being in possession of class A drugs methoxyamphetamine – MDMA – and cocaine and being concerned in the supply of cannabis and amphetamines on July 9 last year.
He insisted the only person he had given any drugs to were his wife, as pain relief, and that he threw the rest away.
He was ordered to carry out 260 hours of unpaid work for the crime.