A court has granted a north-east woman leniency after she was forced to become a drug mule for a Liverpool crime gang.
Mary Cruickshank, also known as Sim, was threatened by armed drug traffickers who ordered her to place packages of cocaine inside her body and drive the drugs to Aberdeen.
However, the plot was thwarted when police stopped the car 20 miles outside Aberdeen and arrested the 51-year-old, another woman and two men.
At Aberdeen Sheriff Court, Sheriff Graham Buchanan told Cruickshank he was prepared to take a “lenient view” of the matter due to the “real pressure” she was under to transport the drugs.
The cocaine Cruickshank was forced to transport totalled nearly £8,000.
Women introduced to ‘heavy hitters’ in Liverpool
It was stated that Cruickshank, a former user, accumulated a significant drug debt in 2020 and was soon the victim of threats and intimidation by those in the drugs world.
As a result, she and the other woman were taken down south where they were introduced to “heavy hitters” in Liverpool.
Crime bosses then presented the two women with packages of cocaine, which they were told to secrete inside their bodies “otherwise there would be consequences”.
When Cruickshank declined to carry the drugs, it is understood a member of the gang lifted his top to reveal a gun in his waistband.
As the group set off on October 28 2020, police received intelligence that there was drug transportation headed for Aberdeen and intercepted the car 20 miles from the city, near the village of Drumlithie.
Cruickshank, the woman and the two men were arrested and cocaine totalling £7,950 was recovered.
She pleaded guilty during a trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court to being concerned in the supply of cocaine.
‘This was an exceptional case’
Defence agent Liam McAllister told the court that his client was “very keen to draw a line under this entire episode”.
Describing the details as “harrowing”, Mr McAllister added: “This is a woman who has come through significant adversity to come to the situation she is now in.
“She is now free of drugs and she has a positive future.
“If she is able to get back into the world of paid employment she can contribute positively to her community and society.
“This was an exceptional case.”
Sheriff Buchanan agreed that due to the “exceptional circumstances” of the case, he was able to take a “lenient view” of the matter.
“We are all well aware of the circumstances in which you came to commit this offence,” he said.
“I do not believe a custodial sentence is required even though there was a significant quantity of drugs involved.
“I am prepared to accept that you were under a substantial degree of real pressure.”
Sheriff Buchanan sentenced Cruickshank to a community payback order with supervision for 18 months.
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