A drug dealer who claimed his sentence was too severe has had his appeal bid thrown out.
James MacIver was found with £14,220 of heroin at his home in the Torry area of Aberdeen in May last year.
MacIver, 55, who has 23 previous convictions, including five for dealing class A drugs, was jailed for six years as a result of his early guilty plea at the High Court in Edinburgh in October.
Lord Uist, sentencing, told MacIver he was subject to a minimum seven-year sentence and had he not pleaded guilty he would have been sent to prison for nine years.
But MacIver appealed the sentence claiming that starting at a minimum of seven years in jail was too severe.
Lord Menzies and Lady Smith heard the arguments but said they “did not agree” with the submissions.
In a written ruling, Lord Menzies said: “It is, we consider, a mistake to take the view that the seven-year starting point is itself a severe sentence.”
He added: “This was the fifth occasion on which the appellant appeared before the court for offences involving class A drugs and having regard to the value and quantity of the drugs and all the other circumstances we are unable to say that his sentence was excessive.
“Accordingly, this appeal is refused.”
