A drug dealer whose “spectacular fall from grace” saw him supply cocaine on Shetland has been jailed for 16 months.
Darren Boxwell, of Tingwall, pleaded guilty to supplying the Class A drug on or between December 2018 and July 2019.
Lerwick Sheriff Court heard that the revenue involved ranged from £67,000 to £84,000.
‘Bulking up the drugs’
Boxwell’s defence agent Liam McAllister said the 33-year-old found himself in a “position that he could never have envisaged” after using drugs personally as a “release”.
Mr McAllister told Wednesday’s court that Boxwell had become involved with a “main dealer” after consuming drugs for personal use – with he himself ending up as something of a “sub-dealer”.
He accepted his role in bulking up the drugs so the “protagonist” could receive more income, the solicitor said.
“He could not break that cycle,” Mr McAllister added.
‘Stuck in a hamster wheel’
Boxwell was caught out after police searched his home as part of an investigation, and found a quantity of drugs and some related items.
Officers also found handwritten notes consistent with a “tick list”, while 11 “regular customers” were identified through text messages on a mobile phone.
The court previously heard he was stuck in a “hamster wheel” at the bidding of someone “higher up in the chain”.
‘A painstaking police enquiry’
Detective Sergeant Bruce Peebles said Boxwell was supplying a “significant number of local people” who they reminded were “fuelling organised crime, violence and misery”.
He added: “Boxwell played a clear and active part in the supplying of Cocaine, a class A controlled drug, over a period of time. This was clearly evidenced by a thorough and painstaking police enquiry.
“What was evident during this enquiry was that a significant number of local people were customers of Boxwell and clearly did not consider themselves to be part of a criminal enterprise as such, very often being unknown to the police, up to the point they were identified.
“I would take this opportunity to remind people who think it is socially acceptable to use cocaine, that by doing so, they are in fact fuelling organised crime, violence and misery and that their own self-gratifying actions are perpetuating this at a local, national and international level.
“Consuming controlled drugs, in particular class A drugs, is never acceptable.”
Sentencing
The court heard Boxwell was now on a “better path” working as a labourer.
Sheriff Ian Cruickshank refused to offer an alternative to custody, though, telling Boxwell: “This was a lengthy operation and there was a considerable degree of planning on your part.”
Boxwell, of Tingwall, was sent to prison for 16 months and granted forfeiture of the items seized by police.
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