A Liverpudlian drug dealer was caught out by officers when he blocked a toilet while trying to dispose of cocaine and heroin.
Ryan Day was unsuccessful in his attempts to flush £20,000 of the Class A drugs down the toilet when officers entered the property in Culloden, Inverness Sheriff Court was told.
Wraps of cocaine and packages of heroin were found floating in the bowl and Day was arrested. He later admitted being concerned in the supply of controlled drugs.
The court heard that police had visited the property on Blackwell Road to check on a woman’s welfare.
But when they gained entry to the property on March 13 2022.
Drugs found floating following failed flush
The court was told his efforts choked the toilet bowl and the outside drain and some wraps of cocaine and packages of heroin were still floating.
An officer retrieved them and, after a complete recovery operation by Police Scotland, 659 wraps of cocaine worth £13,180 and 150 packages of diamorphine with a street value of £6-£7,500 were recovered.
His solicitor Duncan Henderson said: “He is realistic enough to know that the value of drugs may prevent a community payback order being imposed.”
The defence agent said his client’s involvement had been at a “low level” but acknowledged that his role was nonetheless an important part of the operation.
Sheriff Eilidh Macdonald told Day, of Cocklade Lane, Hale Village: “This involved a significant amount of class A drugs, which would have been distributed in our community.
“You were a central part of the operation which was pre-planned and conducted in a business-like manner.”
Noting that the circumstances also involved a “vulnerable” person, Sheriff MacDonald handed down a sentence of 27 months in jail.
