A woman was today spared jail despite hiding nearly £20,000 worth of drugs in her kitchen, after her solicitor made an emotional appeal for her freedom.
Dawn Robertson hid a bag filled with cash, heroin and cocaine for an “on-off partner” but claimed to have been told it was only cannabis.
Fiscal depute Christy Ward told Aberdeen Sheriff Court that when officers went into Robertson’s Ash-Hill Drive home with a drug warrant she was in the living room and said “I know why you’re here” before taking them to the kitchen to show them the drugs.
She advised officers that she was being paid £250 a week to store a bag of drugs in her kitchen cupboard, but hadn’t yet received a payment.
Digital scales, baby wipes, freezer bags and cash were found alongside the drugs.
The total potential value of the heroin recovered was £7,440, and £10,340 of crack cocaine was discovered along with £2,980 of cannabis.
The 29-year-old, who has since moved address, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of controlled drugs between December 3 and December 17, 2019.
Defence agent Ian Hingston launched an emotional plea for her freedom and urged the court to consider the impact it would have on her four-year-old daughter.
He said Robertson had met a man from Birmingham a few years ago, who she recently found out had given her a fake name and had stored the drugs for a third party, arranged through him.
Her fingerprints were not found on the inside of the bag recovered by police, only on the outside.
This further backed up Robertson’s claim that she was told she would be storing cannabis, her solicitor said, as she hadn’t looked inside the bag.
“She is not using or considering her daughter as a get out of jail free card,” Mr Hingston said.
“She is not seeking to put her daughter in that position – but it is a factor.
“She has come to court prepared for the worst. She hasn’t once blamed anybody but herself for what has happened.”
The court heard that Robertson became involved in drugs when he sister was struggling financially.
Sheriff William Summers said it was a “very serious offence” that often resulted in a custodial sentence but he accepted she was not “directly involved in distribution”.
He ordered Robertson to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and placed her on a restriction of liberty order between the hours of 8pm – 7am for four months.
