A teenager who was caught selling crack cocaine from his car in the centre of Aberdeen has been ordered to carry out unpaid work.
Ryan Godfrey, who was 19 at the time of his offences, was caught with hundreds of pounds worth of the Class A drug when police searched his car on Crown Street.
They found Godfrey in possession of nearly £900 worth of crack and more than £1,000 in cash.
Godfrey’s lawyer told Aberdeen Sheriff Court that her client had been “hanging around with the wrong crowd”.
Fiscal depute Jen Pritchard told the court that at around 9.25pm on January 28 this year police were on foot patrol within Aberdeen city centre when they saw Godfrey’s car on Crown Street.
“The officers saw he was speaking to some pedestrians and when police approached the vehicle they noticed he had a bunch of notes in his left hand,” she said.
“It was also noted that there was a female in the passenger seat.
“As police went to detain the accused in order to carry out a search they watched him leave the vehicle and put the cash in his pocket.”
Upon carrying out a search of Godfrey, police found £520 in cash and a packet of white powder on his person.
A search of Godfrey’s car produced a further £600.
Police carried out an analysis of the white powder and found it was crack cocaine with a maximum street value of £880.
Godfrey pleaded guilty to one charge of being concerned in the supply of a controlled drug.
He also admitted a further charge of being in possession of cannabis from November 7 this year.
‘This cannot be considered a one-off’
Defence agent Lisa Reilly told the court that Godfrey, now 20, had shown “genuine remorse” for his actions.
“He apologises to the court for this – he is embarrassed – and hopes not to be in this situation again,” she said.
“He was hanging around with the wrong crowd and hopefully this is a blip for him.”
Sheriff Andrew Miller told Godfrey that he had pleaded guilty to “serious offences”.
“You have admitted supplying crack cocaine and being in possession of cannabis, so for obvious reasons this cannot be considered a one-off.
“Despite the serious nature of these offences, I feel I can impose a community sentence.”
Sheriff Miller sentenced Godfrey, of Jesmond Road, Bridge of Don, to a community payback order with supervision for 12 months.
He also ordered him to carry out 170 hours of unpaid work.
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