A drug dealer who was caught trying to flush nearly £1,000 worth of drugs down the toilet when police raided a house has walked free from court.
Tommy Rabbeth was arrested at a house in the Tillydrone area of Aberdeen where police discovered he was cuckooing at the property of a vulnerable woman.
The 23-year-old was found to be selling both heroin and cocaine from the property.
‘Cuckooing’, as it is known, is when criminal gangs or individuals target the properties of the old or vulnerable as a means to store quantities of drugs or hide the profits of crime.
But, despite Rabbeth admitting the charges, a sheriff was left bemoaning her lack of sentencing options after the Crown downgraded the case from a petition-level matter to a less-serious summary charge.
With Rabbeth already having spent six months on remand, the sheriff was left with no option but to set him free.
Accused was in bathroom when police arrived
Fiscal depute Ann Mann told the court that at around noon on December 29 last year, the woman whose house it was entered her property on Portal Crescent, Aberdeen to find Rabbeth in her home.
She recognised Rabbeth from seeing him around the area and saw he had a number of cellophane wraps in his possession.
At around 12.50pm that same day, police officers arrived at the property to make enquiries.
Entry was granted and as they searched the flat, they found Rabbeth in the bathroom attempting to flush items down the toilet.
Police stopped him and recovered packages containing a brown substance.
They entered other rooms and found drugs on open display in the living room.
Taking Rabbeth into custody, police then recovered heroin with a maximum street value of £970 and cocaine worth an estimated £470.
Appearing in the dock, Rabbeth, whose address was given as HMP Grampian, pleaded guilty to one charge of being concerned in the supply of cocaine and a second charge of supplying heroin.
He also admitted an additional charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Solicitor says it was his client who was cuckooing
Defence solicitor Mike Monro told the court that the Crown had stated that his client was “cuckooing” at that address.
“The position is that she and the accused know each other, but he admits that he was instructed last year by his higher-ups that he would go to that address.
“Mr Rabbeth was asked who was cuckooing that day and it was him.
“He also accepts that he was concerned in the supply of drugs and he pled guilty at the outset.”
Mr Monro went on to say that his client had been on remand for these offences since January this year.
He went on to point out to the sheriff that, since Rabbeth’s charges had been dropped to summary criminal level, he had already spent the maximum amount of time in custody.
Sheriff Lesley Johnston told Rabbeth that the “offences on the charge are serious”.
She added: “As Mr Monro has outlined, because you were remanded on petition, you have now in effect served a long sentence than would have been available to the court on this matter.
“I’m not going to impose any further custodial sentence today.”
Sheriff Johnston also pointed out to the fiscal depute the lack of sentencing options available to her due to the Crown indicting at petition level only to drop it down to summary.
She imposed a financial penalty of £2,000 that she reduced to “nil” and set Rabbeth free.
For all the latest court cases in Aberdeen as well as crime and breaking incidents, join our Facebook group.