The brother of a Highland death crash driver was coerced into helping smuggle £1,000-worth of drugs into Perth Prison.
Kirkhill man Scott Cameron feared his younger sibling Martin could be harmed if he did not agree to post a parcel containing nearly 300 street Valium tablets to an inmate at the Fair City jail.
Martin Cameron was locked up for four-years and eight months for causing the death of his friend in a horrific crash near Inverness in 2018.
He was thought to have hit speeds of between 60 and 70mph as he motored through a 40mph zone in the Highland area of Farr, before losing control of his vehicle.
His passenger Shaun Allan, 26, suffered fatal injuries.
Package was x-rayed by prison staff
Perth Sheriff Court heard his brother Scott, 29, received a message from an unknown person, ordering him to deliver a package to a prisoner at Perth.
Fiscal depute Andrew Harding said the suspicious parcel was x-rayed by staff on arrival at the jail.
They saw it contained a cup containing 290 etizolam tablets, with a value of around £1,000.
Scott Cameron’s DNA was on the parcel.
“He appeared to be the sender and the package was traced back to him,” Mr Harding said.
Deliver parcel or ‘it would not be good’
Cameron, of Aird Crescent, Kirkhill, Inverness-shire, admitted attempting to be involved in the supply of a controlled drug at HMP Perth between May 14 and 16, 2020.
His solicitor told the court: “This was an act that could be described as reckless, to put it mildly.
“Mr Cameron’s brother is serving a custodial sentence as the result of a road traffic accident, which involved a fatality.
“Mr Cameron was contacted by persons unknown and given instructions to post this package on to an inmate at Perth.
“He did not open the package but he assumed that the contents would be what they turned out to be, illicit substances.
“He had been told that if he didn’t do this: ‘It would not be good for anyone.’
“If that was a threat to his brother, we don’t know.”
Spared prison sentence
Cameron, a self-employed grounds worker, was filled with remorse, the court was told.
Sheriff Gillian Wade told him: “Supplying drugs to prison is obviously a very serious offence and there’s no doubt in my mind that this meets the custodial threshold.
“However, I accept that imprisonment would be detrimental to your family, rather than you.”
Cameron was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, imposed as a direct alternative to custody.
Fatal crash
The High Court in Edinburgh heard in October 2019 how his brother Martin had travelled at an average speed of 125mph before the fatal crash.
Passing sentence, judge Lord Kinclaven said Cameron’s offence had “destroyed people’s lives”.
The judge said he had taken into account the impact of the crash on Cameron and his own family.
He added: “However, the impact that your offending has had pales into insignificance with what is being borne by the family of the deceased.”
