A former soldier who battled anxiety and depression after leaving the Army was jailed for more than two years yesterday after being caught dealing drugs in Inverness.
Police raided Steven MacLean’s home in the city on February 23 this year and found 2,355 diazepam tablets in the property.
Inverness Sheriff Court was told yesterday that the 46-year-old, of 88 Rosehaugh Road, had them delivered by post from a supplier in Swansea, South Wales.
But the Post Office had become suspicious and reported its concerns to police.
MacLean was charged with being concerned in the supply of the drug and yesterday he was jailed for 27 months after admitting the offence.
The court was told that MacLean had two other serious drug dealing cases at Elgin in 2013 and Inverness High Court in 2003.
Fiscal Roderick Urquhart said that MacLean told police he had bought Valium from the supplier and was selling them to his friends to fund his own habit.
“He said he was selling them on behalf of this person in Swansea, sending him the money and he would receive a couple of hundred pounds in payment,” the court was told.
Defence solicitor Marc Dickson said: “He has been addicted to diazepam for some time, after being on a methadone prescription for 12 years.
“He was in the Army for three years but left after he was the victim of a serious assault while serving abroad.
“He has struggled since then to fit in to civilian life and he was taking the diazepam to cope with anxiety and depression.
“My client was using at a significant level on a daily basis. It didn’t take long for the Post Office to discover what was going on.”
MacLean’s sentence was backdated to February 26 when he was first remanded in custody.