A man caught concealing nearly half an ounce of heroin inside his body has been jailed for 10 months.
Bryan Connelly, 35 was convicted of being in possession of the Class A drug with intent to supply following a trial at Oban Sheriff Court.
Connelly, of 1 Clydeholm Terrace, Clydebank, told the court he had bought a large quantity of heroin with the intention of doing himself in” after he had gone through a difficult time.
He claimed he had been asked by a friend for a lift to Oban and that he forgot he was still carrying the drugs, which had to be removed by a police surgeon.
Connelly came to the attention of police in the early hours of March 20 in the town’s Scalpay Terrace.
Fiscal Eoin McGinty said: “Police watched him try to manoeuvre out of a car parking space.
“They saw him hit two cars, causing extensive damage. He was stopped.”
He admitted being in possession of valium and driving while unfit through drink or drugs.
When he was taken to Oban’s Lorn and the Isles Hospital it was found he was carrying 11.15 grams or heroin, which would have been worth £780 on the street had it been broken down into “tenner bags” and sold.
Connelly told the court he was in a depressed state when he bought the heroin.
He said: “I was thinking I was going to take my own life.
“I got asked to bring a friend up to Oban. I didn’t get a chance to leave it in the house.”
Sheriff Ruth Anderson did not accept his version of events and jailed him for 10 months as well as banning him from driving for two years.