Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘Wake-up call’ for drug-dealing boxer caught with more than £5,000 of cocaine under car seat

Ben McHattie
Ben McHattie

A drug-dealing boxer caught with more than £5,000 of cocaine stashed under a car seat has had a “wake-up call” after being arrested by police, a court was told.

Ben McHattie was caught when officers approached a Ford Fiesta, in which he was a passenger, on Skene View, Westhill.

The 22-year-old immediately confessed to officers there were drugs hidden in the vehicle and that they belonged to him.

No explanation was given in open court for McHattie becoming involved in supplying the class A drug, but his solicitor insisted the experience of being arrested had been a “wake-up call” for him.

Fiscal depute Lynne MacVicar told Aberdeen Sheriff Court police approached the parked vehicle around 1am on May 15 last year.

Officers “had reason” to approach the car, in which McHattie was in a rear passenger seat, and detained all the occupants.

‘Difficult to explain to his parents’

Ms MacVicar said: “The accused told police that there were drugs inside the vehicle and that they belonged to him.”

The car was searched and police recovered the following items from underneath the rear passenger seat:

  • 31.52g of cocaine worth between £1,250 in its current form, up to a maximum of £3,900
  • Six packages each containing 0.8g or 0.9g of cocaine worth £80 to £100 each
  • A package containing 7.56g of cocaine with the potential to be worth up to £800
  • A set of scales

‘Wake-up call’

The total maximum value of all the cocaine recovered was £5,300 and McHattie was arrested.

Appearing in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, McHattie, of Broadstraik Drive, Elrick, admitted being concerned in the supply of the class A drug.

Defence agent Chris Maitland said his client described being arrested as a “wake-up call”.

He said: “He found one of the most difficult things was to explain all this to his parents.

“He very much regrets his actions.

“The explanation is as given to the social work report writer, and there’s not really anything to add.”

‘He’s no longer selling drugs’

The report was not read during the hearing so no explanation for McHattie’s offending was given in open court.

Mr Maitland said his client left his former job as he was likely to be sacked over the case.

He said: “He’s no longer using drugs and certainly no longer involved in selling drugs.

“He’s not drinking, he’s not going out. He generally spends his time boxing and exercising.”

Sheriff Ian Wallace ordered McHattie to complete 220 hours of unpaid work as an alternative to a custodial sentence.

For all the latest court cases in Aberdeen as well as crime and breaking incidents, join our Facebook group.