A man was caught selling ketamine after an off-duty detective spotted him digging in a forest with a friend.
Ross Reid, 23, was stopped by police in woodland near Kinellar due to a tip-off from the officer, who claimed the two men “were known to her”.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard that officers searched Reid’s Ford Fiesta after smelling cannabis in the air and uncovered hundreds of pounds of the drug, as well as ketamine.
Reid’s solicitor told the court his client had intended to earn “the proverbial fast buck”.
Police searched car due to strong smell of cannabis
Fiscal depute Victoria Kerr told the court that at around 2.30pm on July 7 2020 police were made aware of two men “digging in the forest” by an off-duty colleague.
Officers stopped the males as they got into the vehicle.
Ms Kerr said: “The constables then became aware of a strong smell of cannabis and the accused was detained in relation to the Misuse of Drugs Act.
“Police subsequently took possession of the car and within an open compartment there was an open container containing green herbal substance and a bag containing white powder and a set of scales.”
A search team then examined the car and found £300 worth of Ketamine and £150 worth of cannabis.
Reid pleaded guilty to one charge of supplying Ketamine and a second charge of being in possession of cannabis.
Accused ‘elected for the proverbial fast buck’
Defence agent Mike Monro told the court: “The accused had been in full-time employment but, as like many others, he experienced Covid, furlough and then redundancy.
“Instead of behaving in a legal manner, the accused elected for the proverbial fast buck.”
Mr Monro also said his client denied “digging” in the woods and claimed Reid and his friend had been smoking cannabis in the woodland.
He added that Reid had been hired to “hold” the drugs for someone else but had received “no money whatsoever”.
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin told Reid that she “took into account” that he had no previous convictions and his social work report had been “a positive one”.
“I hope not to see you back in this court again,” she added.
Sheriff McLaughlin sentenced Reid, of Averon Park, Blackburn, to a community payback order for 18 months and ordered him to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work.
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