An Aberdeenshire teenager, who was caught with almost £5,000 of cocaine claims she had the drugs because she had fallen in with a bad crowd.
Rocha Lynch was 17 years old when police raided her home in Aboyne and placed her – along with a group of friends – in handcuffs.
She was arrested and taken into custody after officers recovered a number of packages of suspicious powder and “rock-like” substances.
Lynch, now 18, appeared in Aberdeen Sheriff Court facing one charge of being concerned with the supply of drugs after it was found the bags contained cocaine.
Fiscal depute Brian Young said: “At around 10pm on November 13 2020, a search warrant was executed at the locus and the accused along with others were traced within the living room and were immediately handcuffed, cautioned and detained.”
Drugs for ‘personal use, not for financial gain’
Several bags of cocaine were stashed around the property and had a street value of £4,700.
They seized one bag containing 25.79g of cocaine, which if sold in gram deals could realise up to £3,200, and a second bag with 11.81g of the same drug worth £1,400.
A third bag was found stuffed in a cigarette packet inside a Nike jacket in the living room. The package contained 0.80g of cocaine valued at £100.
Police also found a mirror with “loose traces of cocaine” in the kitchen.
Defence solicitor Tommy Allan told the court the drugs were “not for any financial gain, but for personal use”.
Lynch break ties with ‘bad influence’ friends
He added: “Ms Lynch was a young woman who was experiencing anxiety and depression and fell with a group of friends, who she now knows were a negative influence.
“Her background is very challenging, but there have been some positive developments in her life recently and she now has good support from her family.
“She no longer feels the pressure to have such friends and accepts full responsibility for her actions.”
Sheriff Andrew Miller said: “You told social workers that although your friends were older than you, it seems like you were the person to collect the money and the drugs for them.
“And it might be for the best that you are no longer associated with them.
“I take into account that you were 17 years old at the time, but this is a serious offence, which could have easily resulted in a custodial sentence.”
Lynch, of Ladywood Drive in Aboyne, was sentenced to a five-month curfew and 14-month supervision order.
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