A man who ran from police in Tain had cannabis potentially worth more than £20,000, a court had been told.
Dean Sutherland ran from uniformed officers when he spotted them in Mansefield Estate, Tain.
He was traced and searched, with police recovering two bags of cannabis with a combined weight of more than 1.3 kilograms.
Sutherland, 31, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court to admit a single charge of being concerned in the supply of the class B drug.
Fiscal depute Pauline Gair told the court that on March 5 last year, uniformed officers had been carrying out a foot search on an unrelated matter, when they were spotted by Sutherland.
Man ran from police
She said: “On observing the police, he turned and ran back the way he had just travelled.”
Seeing this, officers gave chase and Sutherland was traced in an alleyway off Scotsburn Road.
“They noted he had dilated pupils, was sweating and emanating a strong smell of cannabis,” Mrs Gair said.
Sutherland was detained for a drugs search and police recovered a rucksack and two self-seal bags containing a substance.
They also found an iPhone which appeared to have been discarded, but which Sutherland denied owning.
He was arrested and taken to the police station, where he provided a “no comment” interview.
A search of his home address uncovered no evidence of criminality, but subsequent testing of the substance recovered revealed it to be more than 1.3kg of cannabis with a potential value of £20,875 if sold in “one gram deals”.
Solicitor Graham Mann, for Sutherland, told the court that his client’s role had been “to hold on to those drugs” but conceded: “It is not an insignificant quantity.”
He said: “He was using drugs at the time and this was a means – unfortunately – of supporting that.”
Remorse and regret
Mr Mann told Sheriff Gary Aitken: “He has expressed remorse and regret.”
Sheriff Aitken told Sutherland, of Fountain Road, Tain: “I’m sure you appreciate now that this was an ill-advised situation to place yourself in.
“The court takes a dim view of those who are involved in the supply of controlled drugs at any stage in the supply chain.”
He placed him on a community payback order with requirements that he remain under supervision for 18 months and complete 150 hours of unpaid work in the community.