A man who was mired in drug debt has avoided being sent to prison after police found nearly £60,000 of cannabis in his bedroom cupboard.
Clark Fraser appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted being concerned in the supply of more than four kilos of the Class B drug.
It was stated that when police raided the 31-year-old’s home he told them he had “two and a bit boxes of smoke” within his bedroom.
His solicitor told the court that Fraser had got himself into drug debt and had turned to selling a large quantity of cannabis to dig himself out of the situation.
Accused freely admitted he was selling drugs
Fiscal depute David Rogers told the court that police arrived at Fraser’s home at around 7.30pm on March 14 this year to execute a search warrant.
When Fraser answered the door they cautioned and detained him while carrying out a search of his home.
Whilst he was under caution, Fraser told the officers that he had “two and a bit boxes of smoke in his bedroom cupboard”.
A subsequent search of his home uncovered a number of vacuum bags, a JD Sports bag and plastic containers and glass jars containing cannabis, alongside three packages containing a green herbal substance.
Two sets of digital scales, black nitrile gloves, a vacuum sealer and various self-seal and black bin liners were also found.
Fraser was then arrested by police and interviewed where he “freely admitted” he had been selling cannabis for around six months.
The total weight of the cannabis recovered was 4,621 grams and it had a potential street value of £59,290.
Appearing in the dock, Fraser pleaded guilty to one charge of being concerned in the supply of cannabis.
‘This is a very serious offence’
Defence solicitor David Sutherland told the court that his client had “accepted full responsibility for his crime and has expressed remorse”.
“This is his first conviction for a drug offence and he has never been to prison before,” Mr Sutherland said.
He stated that Fraser had initially started smoking the drug in order to benefit his mental health, but added that there were “many people who used cannabis for many reasons who don’t go on to sell the drug”.
“Mr Fraser had run up a drug debt and had taken to selling drugs to pay that off,” Mr Sutherland said.
Sheriff Andrew Miller told Fraser that he took account of the “serious nature of this offence”.
“Cannabis is a Class B drug and there is no avoiding that this is a very serious offence,” he said.
“You were also selling the drug for six months or so.”
As an alternative to a prison sentence, Sheriff Miller made Fraser, of Provost Rust Drive, Aberdeen, subject to a community payback order with supervision for 12 months and ordered him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
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