An Aberdeen bar worker who was caught with a rucksack containing more than £3,000 of cannabis has avoided a prison sentence.
Scott Thomson, 27, appeared in the dock and admitted supplying a controlled drug after sniffer dogs found thousands of pounds of weed in supermarket plastic bags at his home.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard that cops raided Thomson’s house after receiving a tip-off that he was in possession of a large quantity of the drug.
They found a rucksack containing an Asda carrier bag, a blue carrier bag and a special smell-proof bag containing nearly 190g worth of cannabis.
The court heard that Thomson’s stash was valued at more than £3,000.
Thomson, a barman in Aberdeen, pleaded guilty to one charge of being concerned in the supply of cannabis.
Accused had cannabis in carrier bags
Fiscal depute Sean Ambrose told the court that in December last year police had received intelligence that Thomson was dealing the drug from his home.
He said: “On January 27 this year police and a drug detection dog attended at the locus with a drugs search warrant.
“Entry was forced but no person was found within.
“Constables deployed the drug detection dog in the living room which provided a positive indication towards a blue rucksack containing carrier bags.”
A further search of the property unearthed a set of scales, large self-seal bags, a passport belonging to Thomson, a mobile phone and a black smell-proof bag that also contained cannabis.
The contents of the Asda bag were analysed and found to be 157g of cannabis with an estimated street value of £2,500.
A blue carrier bag was also found to contain 28.7g of cannabis worth an estimated £475.
The black smell-proof bag had cannabis worth around £50 inside it.
‘He was selling to a select group of friends’
Defence agent Michael Burnett told the court that Thomson was a cannabis user who started selling it to make the amount he used for personal use cheaper.
He said: “It’s a fairly common scenario – he was selling it to a select group of friends because it was less expensive for him, but it was to people he smoked with.
“But he was still concerned in the supply and it’s still a serious matter.”
Sheriff Lesley Johnston told Thomson that she could see that using drugs had become “normalised” for him.
She added: “I see from the social work report that you are motivated to stop your drug use, which is good.
“You have a limited record but you have spent time in a prison environment and I take it you would like to avoid that in future.”
As an alternative to a prison sentence, Sheriff Johnston handed Thomson, of Gillespie Place, Aberdeen, a community payback order with 100 hours of unpaid work.
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