A 24-year-old man who sold “substantial amounts” of heroin to pay off a drugs debt has been sent to prison for two and a half years.
Robert Finnie, whose address was given as Grampian Prison, appeared from custody at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday to admit supplying the Class A drug at a number of locations on 16 October and 14 December last year.
The dealing took place at Sorfra in Virkie, as well as at a post office on Dingwall’s High Street, NorthLink Ferries at Jamieson’s Quay in Aberdeen and elsewhere.
In mitigation, defence agent Chris Dowle said a friend of Finnie was a heroin supplier and had committed suicide.
The mother of the deceased said her son was owed money by Finnie, resulting in the 24 year old then taking up dealing himself to pay off the debt.
Dowle added that Finnie became “immersed in the supply of drugs” and was threatened when he tried to escape the illicit trade.
The defence agent said his client had spent large periods of his life unemployed and had suffered a fractured upbringing.
Dowle also confirmed that Finnie, who was convicted of an analogous matter in 2011, was currently serving a six-month jail sentence.
Sheriff Philip Mann said Finnie was “no stranger to this kind of offending” and that he entered into the world of drug dealing of his own free will.
He added that the quantity of drugs involved was “substantial” and that it had the “potential to wreck many lives in this community”.
Sheriff Mann placed Finnie behind bars for two and a half years, which included a discount of three months to reflect the time he had already spent in custody.
It will run consecutive to his current jail term, which has an earliest release date of 17 August.
Finnie will also spend one year under supervision when he is released from prison.
A woman who drove to Lerwick’s Gilbert Bain Hospital to visit her husband while almost four times the drink-driving limit has been banned from the road for nearly two years.
Brenda Wishart, of 12 Nortstane, Lerwick, was reported to the police by her own family in an attempt to solve her alcohol problem.
The 62 year old admitted at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday to driving with 87 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath at the hospital, Norstane and the roads in between on 12 May.
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said Wishart turned up at the hospital “clearly intoxicated”.
After her family called the police, the woman failed a roadside screening test and was arrested.
Defence agent Chris Dowle said his client had suffered a relapse with drinking due to “terrific stress”.
She was signed off work for months after fracturing her wrist last year before her husband was “incapacitated” with broken arms and legs following a road accident in April.
Wishart was “very remorseful” and humiliated having committed the offence, Dowle added.
Sheriff Philip Mann said concerns over public safety were paramount when dealing with the case.
“It’s a great shame you appear before me at this stage of your life,” he added.
Sheriff Mann disqualified Wishart from driving for 20 months and fined her £600.
The ban may be reduced by five months if she completes a drink-drivers rehab course.
A man has been released on bail after appearing from custody in private at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday in relation to an allegation that was involved in supplying drugs.
Forty three year old Kevin Stuart Goodlad, from Lerwick, made no plea or declaration over a petition alleging that he contravened Section 4(3)(b) of the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act.
He was committed for further examination and released on bail.
