A man who was caught with £60 of drugs has been given 150 hours community service by a High Court judge.
Paul Crawford, 33, was arrested after police found quantities of the drug at the home of his co-accused Colin Yeats,39, in Fraserburgh in July 2019.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard how officers swooped on the address after receiving intelligence that Yeats and Crawford were involved in the narcotics trade.
Judge Lady Carmichael heard how Yeats had acquired more than 40 criminal convictions during his life – many of them for drugs offences.
The story emerged after Yeats and Crawford, of Clough Road, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to supplying heroin earlier this year.
‘Medium risk of reoffending’
Sentence had been deferred for the court to obtain reports on Crawford’s background.
On Tuesday, defence solicitor advocate Shahid Latif told Lady Carmichael that the drugs recovered from Crawford had a street value of £60.
Mr Latif asked the judge to impose a non-custodial sentence on his client.
Speaking about a background report written about Crawford’s background by court appointed social workers, Mr Latif added: “Again, it does indicate that while there is a medium risk of re-offending he can be managed in the community.”
Lady Carmichael ordered Crawford to do 150 hours community service and told him he’d be supervised by the authorities for one year.
Crawford’s local authority in England will ensure he will do the work and the body will also supervise him.
She also imposed an order compelling Crawford to complete 25 rehabilitation activity days – an English legal requirement in which accused people complete tasks designed to tackle the causes of their offending.
Passing sentence, Lady Carmichael said: “What I am proposing to do is to impose a sentence that is a direct alternative to a custodial sentence.
“If you don’t comply you can be sentenced afresh for the offence.”
