Members of a Liverpool crime group known as Scouse Jack recruited a vulnerable Inverness man to help them sell drugs in the Highlands.
Liverpudlian Carl Masher exploited heroin addict Christopher Gow and made him deliver Class A drugs and collect payments, a court was told.
The drug operation was dismantled after detectives set up surveillance of Gow’s Inverness home and raided it in June 2021.
Inside, they found wraps of heroin, drug dealing paraphernalia and bundles of cash worth more than £5,000.
Masher, 26, and Gow, 41, appeared for sentence at Inverness Sheriff Court having previously admitted being concerned in the supply of controlled drugs.
At an earlier court hearing, fiscal depute David Morton detailed the sophistication of the drug dealing system used by the gang to bring heroin and cocaine to Inverness, Nairn and Aviemore.
He also explained how intelligence gathering and the tracking of mobile phones by police played a vital role in snaring the pushers.
Phoneline connected dealers and addicts
Mr Morton told Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald that the Scouse Jack organised crime group was first seen operating in and around Inverness as far back as September 2019.
On March 9 2021 police received intelligence that a vehicle containing members of the gang was travelling up the A9 to Inverness and was “potentially carrying drugs”.
The vehicle was stopped by police near Kingussie and Masher and another person were inside having travelled from Liverpool.
Mr Morton said: “The group operated a dealing line whereby customers would text the line seeking to purchase drugs. Messages would be exchanged giving the places and process required for obtaining the drugs.”
He added that the dealing line would also send out messages to advise customers when they were “open for business” in and around Inverness.
“Messages would be sent in bulk to numerous people at a time,” said Mr Morton.
Drug addict exploited by crime gang
Sheriff MacDonald was told that the crime group used Gow, who was a drug user.
Mr Morton said: “Gow was trusted by the group and he trusted them and he would collect money and traffic drugs on their behalf.”
Gow’s address, which was not made publicly available, was kept under surveillance by police and in June 2021 officers raided the premises.
As well as drug dealing paraphernalia, £5460 in cash was seized.
There were also 111 wraps of heroin in “half gram rock deals” with a street value up to £2310, Mr Morton said.
He added that police recovered a card from the group sent to Gow that read: “Happy Birthday bro. Hope you enjoy your little gift. Ha, ha. Love from the gang. You’re part of the team.”
The court was told this week that Masher did not co-operate fully with the social worker tasked with writing the report by failing to explain how and why he got involved in the illegal enterprise.
But his solicitor advocate Mike Chapman explained: “He has not tried to blame anyone else for this and it is accepted by him that there will be a custodial sentence.”
‘He is a vulnerable man’
Sheriff Macdonald jailed him for 21 months, backdated to August 13, his date of remand.
Gow was placed under three years of social work supervision as Sheriff Macdonald deemed him “in a different situation” from his co-accused.
Gow’s solicitor advocate, Clare Russell, said: “He has a myriad of mental health problems which led to a heroin addiction and this underpins this offence.
“But he is now stabilised on medication. He is a vulnerable man and was exploited by others.”
Sheriff Macdonald accepted that Gow had been taken advantage of by Masher and others and told him: “I consider you were vulnerable but also foolish.”