An Inverness man has admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply after police found £10,000 worth of the drug at his house.
Officers carried out a search warrant at John MacDonald’s Aird Avenue home, finding cocaine, cash and scales.
MacDonald told officers drugs found in his bedroom were “personal” but police also recovered cocaine in the shed.
MacDonald, 41, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court to admit a single charge of possessing cocaine with intent to supply.
Fiscal depute Naomi Duff-Welsh told the court that it was around 1pm on June 17 of 2022 when officers executed a drugs warrant at MacDonald’s house.
No one was home and officers began the search.
Ms Duffy-Welsh said: “They recovered a quantity of drugs from the property alongside a set of scales.
Cash stashed in sock
“A quantity of cash in the sum of £2,130 was also found wrapped in a sock concealed alongside an identity card for the accused.”
MacDonald and his partner returned home as the search was ongoing, the warrant was explained and he was cautioned.
“The accused MacDonald then asked police what items had been recovered,” Ms Duffy-Welsh said.
“When he was informed that a small amount of a suspected controlled substance was recovered from within the house the accused MacDonald stated: ‘Where was it? In the bedroom? That’s personal.'”
The court heard that officers recovered a further quantity of drugs from within a black bag in the garden shed.
Cocaine worth more than £10,000
Subsequent testing confirmed the drugs to be 102.16 grams of cocaine – with an estimated value of up to £10,150 if sold in half-gram deals.
The prosecutor asked Sheriff Ian Cruickshank to order the forfeiture of items seized at the property and made a motion for an order to be issued under the Proceeds of Crime Act for the cash seized
Solicitor Clare Russell, for MacDonald, told the court her client was a father of two and was employed full-time.
She invited Sheriff Cruickshank to call for presentencing reports and asked that MacDonald, who now lives at Inshes Holdings, Inverness, be allowed to remain on bail in the meantime.
Ms Russell said there was no objection to the forfeiture but asked for consideration of the motion under the Proceeds of Crime Act to be continued.
Sheriff Cruickshank deferred sentence to next month for the production of reports. He ordered the forfeiture of the seized items and continued consideration of the motion under the Proceeds of Crime Act regarding the cash.
