A man who turned to dealing after racking up his own drug debts has been ordered to complete 280 hours of unpaid work in the community.
Jake Bremner stashed cocaine and cannabis worth almost £5,000 at his mum and aunt’s homes.
He was caught out when intelligence-led police to raid the Elgin properties.
His solicitor told the court that Bremner had turned to crime after racking up debts with drug dealers.
Searches of the properties uncovered cocaine with an estimated value of £4,500 and cannabis worth £445.
Solicitor Declan O’Keefe told the court his client had experienced a difficult childhood and had fallen into bad habits following the deaths of his brother and father.
Drug dealer debt caused crime
He said: “He developed a habit with illicit substances. This got worse and worse.”
He added that Bremner had built up debt to drug dealers as a result of his habit.
“This essentially led to him making what was a horrendous decision to start drug dealing himself,” Mr O’Keefe told the court.
However, Sheriff Robert Frazer heard that the arrest and subsequent court proceedings had had a positive effect on Bremner.
He told social workers preparing pre-sentencing reports that being arrested was “the best thing that could have happened to him”.
Dealer has ‘turned his life around’
Mr O’Keefe detailed that Bremner has since secured an apprenticeship and “turned his life around”.
Sheriff Robert Frazer told Bremner, of Springfield, Elgin that he would impose a community payback order as a direct alternative to a custodial sentence.
The order requires Bremner to complete 280 hours of unpaid work over 30 months.
