A crook who travelled from Liverpool to Moray “for the sole purpose of dealing class A drugs” has been jailed for almost two years.
Liam Scotton, 25, appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court yesterday, after admitting to possessing more than £2,000 worth of heroin and cocaine with the intent to sell it.
Fiscal Alex Swain told the court that police received a tip-off about the illegal activity going on at Scotton’s address at 6 North Port in Elgin.
On Wednesday, January 24, officers were granted a warrant to search the flat and unearthed a stash of class A drugs beneath a cushion on his sofa.
They found 10 grammes of cocaine in one bag, with a street value of £900.
Other bags contained a total of 22 grammes of diamorphine, worth £1,120 combined.
Police also seized paraphernalia including scales, and eight mobile phones.
The fiscal told the court that, despite the scales containing traces of heroin, Scotton accused initially denied any involvement in drug dealing to police officers.
He eventually admitted charges of being concerned in the supply of cocaine and diamorphine on October 24, and has been held in remand since then.
Scotton’s solicitor, Ian Cruickshank, confirmed his client no longer wished to hide his involvement in the offence.
But he said that Scotton was coerced into drug dealing to pay off drug debts.
Mr Cruickshank said: “My client has, in the past, been a drug user and was addicted to various substances.
“He accumulated drug debts, and that led to his involvement in this offence.
“But he doesn’t shy away from the fact he carried out this activity in the full knowledge he was committing an offence and accepts the responsibility for that lies with him.
“He is a different person now than he was when this crime was committed.”
Mr Cruickshank’s pleas that Scotton be spared a prison term found little favour with Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov, who jailed him for 22 months.
The sheriff told him: “You came to this area for the sole purpose of dealing class A drugs, and in very concerning amounts. That behaviour will not be tolerated by the courts.”
