A former top chef who turned to drug dealing and petty crime after his restaurant business collapsed has been jailed for 18 months after squandering “multiple opportunities” to turn his life around.
Chris Tonner, 43, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted 10 charges of stealing cars, drug dealing, resisting arrest and shoplifting.
Tonner, who was once a well-known chef in the city, has seen heroin and cocaine abuse blight his life since the collapse of both his business and marriage, Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard.
His fall from grace stemmed from the failure of his company, Beetroot Restaurants.
He has now been jailed for a string of offences after he failed to comply with a series of community orders that were imposed as an alternative to prison.
His solicitor, Emma Stewart, told the court that Tonner accepted he had squandered his final chance to break the cycle of drug-taking and offending.
The court heard how, in August 2021, police officers caught Tonner driving off with a vehicle he’d stolen.
When he was stopped, he claimed the car was his, despite it being registered to someone else and Tonner knowing nothing about the vehicle’s history.
On another occasion, in September 2022, Tonner called to offer his assistance to an acquaintance who was opening a business on Holburn Street.
When the two men had a falling out, Tonner entered the premises using a key he’d been given and stole kitchen equipment worth £1,900.
On March 30 last year, police received intelligence and were granted a search warrant for Tonner’s address.
Upon entering the property, they found Tonner and a co-accused present inside, alongside multiple sim cards, mobile phones and notebooks with names of known drug users within the city written in them.
They found £470 in cash, 18 wraps of heroin worth £240 and 29 wraps of crack cocaine worth £710.
In the dock, Tonner pleaded guilty to one charge of stealing a car and driving without insurance, a second count of intent to steal from a motor vehicle and two charges of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs.
He also admitted seven charges of stealing items from shops and a final charge of failing to attend a court appearance.
Defence solicitor Ms Stewart told the court that her client “accepts that he was offered a final chance” to stay out of prison if he carried out community orders and stopped offending.
“He breached the trust of the court, and he knows the only option today is jail,” the solicitor added.
Sheriff Lesley Johnston told Tonner that he had repeatedly breached the orders put in place as an alternative to a custodial sentence.
She stated: “You have been given multiple opportunities to complete your community orders and you have failed to do so.
“Despite the position against short sentences, I see no alternative but to impose a custodial sentence today.”
Sheriff Johnston sentenced Tonner, of Park Road, Aberdeen, to a total of 18 months in prison.
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