A drug dealer was jailed for three years at Inverness Sheriff Court yesterday after he was caught counting cash from heroin sales – the day after he was supposed to leave Scotland.
Liam Holding, 21, from the Blackpool area, was arrested on May 22 in a house in Anderson Street, Inverness.
Heroin with a street value of more than £4,000 was also found in the property.
Holding had been released on bail at Peterhead Sheriff Court on May 19, after being given until noon on May 21 to leave Scotland.
He appeared from custody at Inverness Sheriff Court yesterday for sentencing after admitting the charge earlier this month.
Sheriff Margaret Neilson said: “Clearly the report makes fairly dismal reading. Given your record and the nature of this charge, only a custodial sentence is suitable.”
During a previous hearing, fiscal depute Roderick Urquhart said that police had gone to the address to arrest another person at the Anderson Street home.
Mr Urquhart said police were leaving with the man they had detained when he asked to go back inside and hand his keys to the others in the house, including Holding.
The man invited the police inside and they saw a set of scales on the coffee table and Holding counting the money.
Holding was detained and £915 was recovered from the house and in his possession. Police also recovered 41.4 grams of heroin, with a street value of £4,140.
Holding’s solicitor Leonard Birkenshaw explained previously that one of Holding’s co-accused in Peterhead had relatives staying in Inverness, and he had asked to stay the night there as he had nowhere else to go.
Mr Birkenshaw said Holding’s mother was supposed to come to Inverness to pick him up but did not show and he was forced to stay on.