An unpaid work supervisor who turned to crime himself has been jailed after being caught with cocaine worth more than £10,000.
Dad-of-three Dean Kennedy was caught red-handed transporting a £12,000 of cocaine from Glasgow to Fort William when cops pulled over his BMW in the Lochaber town’s Victoria Road.
The 52-year-old, who oversaw community payback orders for the Criminal Justice Social Work Department in Fort William, told police he had been paid to transport the package but refused to divulge who he was working for or who the recipient was to be.
Kennedy told officers he was in a “world of s***” and had racked up debts of £52,000 after developing a drug habit himself.
‘I just do it for the money’
Inverness Sheriff Court heard that police on patrol at midnight were concerned by his driving as he sped through the town and made a couple of turns without indicating.
When Kennedy was stopped, he was asked if there were drugs in the car and he replied: “I hope not. Maybe a wee bit of cannabis I take now and again.”
Fiscal depute Robert Weir said police searched the vehicle and a package containing 125 grams of the Class A narcotic, with a street value of over £12,000 was recovered.
‘It was the third time he had done it’
Kennedy then told the officers: “I am in a world of s***. I just do it for the money.”
He admitted a charge of being concerned in the supply of cocaine over the incident, which happened on April 24 this year.
Defence solicitor Stephen Kennedy said his client, who previously had sentence deferred for a background report compiled by his colleagues, was certain to lose his job.
He said: “He did not know what was in the package or its value but he knew it was an illegal substance.
“He did it to fund his own habit and because he was in debt to the tune of £52,000. That was his prime motivation.
“He admitted to the author of the report that it was the third time he had done it. He is ashamed of his behaviour.”
Sheriff Matheson told Kennedy, of Henderson Row, Fort William: “You can’t get away from the fact that those concerned in the supply of class A drugs will face a term of imprisonment.”
He jailed him for 10 months.
