A 20-year-old whose life was “fraught” with hardship was lured to a Peterhead drug operation by a London gang, a court has heard.
Jake Osborne was caught with more than £5,000 worth of cocaine and heroin and £6,420 in cash at a flat in the town’s East North Street during a police raid on October 24, 2018.
Osborne appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on Hogmanay for sentencing after previously admitting being concerned in the supply of drugs.
He was locked up for 20 months, with Sheriff Morag McLaughlin telling him he hoped he would “turn his life around” upon his release.
The court heard Osborne, who spent a large portion of his teenage years sleeping rough in London, had been “promised” money from a gang in the English capital if he assisted with the illegal activities.
The youth was “taken to Peterhead in a van, and told what to do”.
Defence agent Leonard Berkenshire said: “He was targeted and told to do this job for them.
“Now he has been caught, he is in more trouble with them due to the money now owed since he has been caught.
“This happens on a regular basis in London and there was pressure put on him: he thought this would be a quick fix.”
The court was also told that Osborne, who “deeply regretted” his actions, had been surviving on toast and biscuits “whenever he could get hold of them” and had briefly lived with his father, who squandered his money on fuelling his alcohol addiction.
But Sheriff McLaughlin told Osborne, from Essex, there was no alternative to a custodial sentence.
She said: “This was a significant operation and amount of Class A drugs.
“You are extremely young, just 20, and after you are released I hope you can find employment and turn your life around.”
