A man caught with almost £260,000 worth of cannabis during a police raid has avoided going to prison as he wasn’t a “lynchpin” in the drug operation.
Dillon Davidson, 27, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted being involved in the “storage” of cannabis which was found during the raid of a flat in the Cornhill area of Aberdeen.
It was stated that Davidson immediately directed drugs officers to a large shopping bag within the flat where police found more than 15kg of cannabis.
His solicitor told the court that Davidson had never denied his involvement, but that it had been a “huge surprise” to his client when he discovered the total amount of drugs.
Accused pointed to bag of drugs
Fiscal depute David Rogers told the court that in September 2022, police had received intelligence that Davidson was involved in the supply of controlled drugs at an address on Old Croft Place, Aberdeen.
On September 16, a male was seen handing a number of large bags to Davidson at that address, which were suspected to contain drugs.
The same day, police forced entry to the property.
“The accused, Davidson, and another male were found within the address in the hall and living room respectively,” Mr Rogers said.
“The accused immediately indicated towards a large shopping bag on a chair in the living room and advised it contained controlled drugs.
“Police officers examined the bag and found it to contain a large quantity of green herbal substance which they suspected to be cannabis.”
Arresting Davidson and the other male, police then carried out a search of the property where they found a number of bags containing green herbal substance and £555.
The total weight of the cannabis found was 15kg and 558g and it had a maximum street value of £259,250.
During his police interview, Davidson admitted being involved in the supply of a controlled drug and stated that he had been asked to “store” the drugs, for which he received £1,000 for each transaction.
In court, Davidson pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis.
‘You were not a lynchpin’
Defence solicitor Iain Hingston told the court that his client knows what he did was “stupid” and “he shouldn’t have done it”, adding: “That has been his position throughout”.
“Mr Davidson wasn’t aware of the volume of drugs and had he known he wouldn’t have risked his future by taking the packages,” Mr Hingston said.
“It’s an unusually large amount of cannabis and his reaction upon finding out how much was in the packages was a huge surprise.”
Sheriff Christine McCrossan told Davidson she had considered his position in the drugs operation, which she considered to be “a lesser role” where he “would have had little awareness of the scale”.
“I accept that you were not aware of the quantity and I do not think it would be proportional in these circumstances to impose a custodial sentence.
“I believe this takes into account the public interest as well as you were not a lynchpin in this operation.”
As an alternative to a prison sentence, Sheriff McCrossan made Davidson, of Deevale Terrave, Aberdeen, subject to a community payback order with supervision for two years.
She also made his subject to a restriction of liberty order for 12 months and ordered him to carry out 280 hours of unpaid work.
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