A repeat heroin trafficker who lost a leg because of drug abuse was jailed for six and a half years today after he was caught with £3,000 of the Class A narcotic.
A judge told Colin Gillies at the High Court in Edinburgh: “If anyone should know why diamorphine (heroin) is a controlled drug it is you.”
Lord Matthews said Gillies has “an appalling record” and told him: “You were involved yet again in the supply of diamorphine.”
Gillies, 60, admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin on July 30 last year at his then-home at Pirie’s Court, in Aberdeen.
He was previously jailed at the High Court in 1995 for four and a half years for trafficking in heroin, in 2003 for eight years for the same offence and in 2010 for eight years for being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine.
Police raid on flat
Advocate depute Brian Gill KC said that police received intelligence that Gillies was again involved in the sale or supply of heroin in the summer of last year.
Officers armed with a warrant went to his flat at 7.30 am on July 30 and forced entry. One officer tried to go into the living room but found a large dog was standing behind the door preventing him opening it.
He saw through a gap in the doorway that Gillies and another person were in the room and told them that the flat was going to be searched and to bring the animal under control.
After police got into the room Gillies and the other person were detained and searched but nothing was found on them.
But they recovered a bag of heroin from the floor, a set of scales and a mobile phone from a coffee table. Police also found £645 in cash in a bedroom.
More than 60 grams of heroin were in the bag, which was enough to produce 307 “tenner” bags for street sale.
Lost leg due to drug abuse
DNA from Gillies was found on the mobile phone which contained texts from prospective buyers asking about the availability and price for drugs as well as arrangements for a deal to take place.
Defence counsel Louis Bendle said Gillies was formerly employed as a steel erector and worked offshore but underwent surgery in December 2023 to partially amputate his left leg following drug use.
He said: “He is the recipient of disability benefit due to this leg amputation.”
Lord Matthews told Gillies that if he was convicted of his latest drugs offence after a trial he would have been jailed for nine years.