News / Former drug addict admits possession of large amount of heroin
A DRUG addict who smuggled a “substantial” amount of heroin to Shetland was sentenced to 100 hours of community service at Lerwick Sheriff Court, on Wednesday.
Peter John Henderson, of 10 Kalliness, Weisdale, pled guilty to a charge of being in possession of the Class A drug after the Crown accepted that the 17.91 grams found on him were for his personal use rather than for supplying the drug.
The 31-year-old was arrested when disembarking from Aberdeen ferry at Holmsgarth Terminal, in Lerwick, on the morning of 15 August last year.
The court heard that Henderson had bought the drugs, with a street value of £750, in Aberdeen because a similar amount of heroin would have been substantially more expensive in Shetland.
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said he had received evidence from the defence which allowed him to amend the original charge from supplying the Class A drug to possession.
Defending, solicitor John Slavin said Henderson had become involved in the local drug sub-culture back in 2007.
“Over a number of years he was physiologically and physically dependent on the drug and needed it on a daily basis,” the solicitor said.
At the time, Henderson was working almost seven days a week in the construction industry, earning substantial wages much of which he spent on heroin to “remain stable”.
Mr Slavin said that with the help of his family and the local drugs agency CADSS Henderson had meanwhile managed to get off the drug. “He is now in control of that urge that he has,” he said.
Sheriff Valerie Johnston said she accepted that the heroin had been for Henderson’s personal use to feed his addiction.
But she reminded him that heroin was “a scourge not just to the islands but to the whole of the country.”
Henderson has three months to complete the order.
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