An Elgin woman who stored heroin worth £55,000 in her home for a Liverpool-based drug dealer has been jailed for nearly three years.
Jane Sandison, a long-term addict who had beaten the habit, became hooked on the Class A substance once more following the death of her sister.
Elgin Sheriff Court heard yesterday heard that a dealer she had been buying the drug from asked her to store a huge stash at her home on Hossack Drive.
She spent a week helping to package the drugs and was repaid in cash and heroin.
The drugs were, however, seized during a police raid on November 24 last year.
More than 644 grams of heroin was found in a shopping bag and a parcel wrapped in brown tape.
The practice of major drug dealers using vulnerable people to store their supply is known as “cuckooing” and has been the subject of a police crackdown and accompanying awareness drive.
Sandison’s solicitor, Stephen Carty, yesterday pleaded with the court to spare the 56-year-old a prison sentence, claiming “pressure had been exerted on her to become involved”.
He said: “She has an extensive history of drug abuse and her circumstances are quite unfortunate.
“She was not coping at all after the death of her sister and turned back to drugs.
“This started with her purchasing drugs from this individual from Liverpool and she ended up doing what she was asked to do.
“But she accepts that she was also obtaining drugs from them to feed her habit.
“She says she simply did not comprehend the sheer value of drugs involved.”
Mr Carty added that Sandison “should have gone to the police” but “that’s easier to say in hindsight”.
Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov said she had considered “how vulnerable” Sandison was at the time and the fact that she had since taken steps to address her addiction.
But she said a custodial sentence was the only “appropriate” outcome and jailed Sandison for 32 months.
