News / Man caught with £4,000 of heroin gets three years
A HEROIN courier from Liverpool was sent to jail for more than three years after pleading guilty to supplying the class A drug in Shetland.
Lerwick Sheriff Court heard on Thursday that police were acting on intelligence when they arrested Anthony McCormick in the town’s Sandveien area on 13 June.
The 27 year old, whose address was given as Grampian Prison, had 43.31 grams of heroin on him when searched.
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said the drugs could have potentially been worth £4,300 on the black market.
Police also found almost £1,400 in cash on McCormick, a sum that was forfeited to the court.
McCormick was also charged with refusing to submit to a medical examination after being taken to Lerwick Police Station.
The fiscal said that there had been concern McCormick might conceal more drugs internally.
Defending McCormick, solicitor Tommy Allan said his client claimed to be just a small cog in a much bigger wheel, as his potential earnings from the courier job had been just a couple of hundred pounds.
Sheriff Philip Mann said his sentencing had to reflect that this was already McCormick’s second conviction for supplying drugs.
He said he could imprison him for five years but decided to restrict the jail term to 40 months, backdated to 13 June, in the light of McCormick’s early plea of guilty.
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