A dad who smuggled thousands of pounds of cannabis into the Highlands to pay for a sight-saving operation for his young son has been jailed for 15 months.
Patrick Boyland’s drug dealing was “an act of desperation” driven by his desire to save his child’s eyesight, Inverness Sheriff Court was told.
The 37-year-old planned to sell almost 2kgs of the Class B drug for £16,500 to help finance the £50,000 surgery costs.
The court heard Boyland’s removal business had been doing well until Covid struck and he got involved to get the funds for the treatment.
Fiscal depute Martina Eastwood said police stopped a car, driven by Boyland, on the A9 near Tomatin on September 30 last year.
“When it was searched, a green rucksack containing herbal cannabis was found, as well as £450 in cash and a phone,” she said.
More cannabis was found in the boot, the prosecutor added.
‘An act of desperation’
The court had previously been told by Boyland’s defence solicitor advocate, Shahid Latif, that his client had “a powerful reason which led him to make a gross error of judgement”.
Mr Latif said it was “an act of desperation” by a father who wanted to save his child’s eyesight.
Passing sentence, Sheriff Ian Cruickshank sympathised with Boyland, of Dell Road, Inverness.
The judge told him: “You have my sympathies regarding your son’s health issues. But notwithstanding the motivation, this is a sizeable quantity and it is not acceptable to be involved in the supply of cannabis.”
Boyland’s co-accused, Mohamed Ahmed of Ladies Walk, Inverness, had £50,000 worth of cannabis in a car when it was stopped by police near Balavil on July 29 last year last year.
He also admitted being concerned in the supply of drugs and was jailed for a total of 18 months.
Ahmed had also previously pleaded guilty to separate charges including maliciously breaking the windows of his brother’s home in Stuart Street, Forres, with a rock on November 12, 2020.
Taliban threats
In addition, he admitted a breach of bail and threatening or abusive racist behaviour towards police when he was arrested.
Ms Eastwood said: “He made threats to shoot an officer and that he would get the Taliban to bomb their police station.
“He repeatedly banged his head on the walls of a police van, calling one officer ‘a white boy’ and a ‘white b*****d’.
“He threatened to slit their throats and ‘get his Muslim brothers to conduct a Jihad against the police and bomb a police station’. Officers believed he was under the influence of drugs.”
His defence solicitor, Robert Cruickshank said: “He has been abusing cannabis from a young age and it has had an impact on his mental health.
“He is the son of a local businessman and the family remain supportive of him. But they are not blind to the criminality their son has done.
“Regarding the Forres incident, he was heavily intoxicated.”
