Stunned heroin dealer told he had to expect ‘substantial sentence’
A DRUG addict who used a taxi for a heroin deal has been hit with a four-year prison sentence.
Social workers recommended Gordon Donald be placed on a Drug and Treatment Testing Order after he was caught dealing.
But the 35-year-old looked stunned when he was handed the lengthy jail term.
Jedburgh Sheriff Court was told that police responded to a 999 call about a disturbance at Donald’s home in Renwick Terrace on March 3 but found nothing on their arrival.
But officers then spotted a taxi leaving the street with Donald and another man in the back seat.
Procurator fiscal Graham Fraser said a search uncovered a bag of brown powder and a set of scales in the back seat of the taxi.
The heroin had a street value of £920 and they also seized two mobile phones and £103.50 in cash.
Defence lawyer Ed Hulme described Donald as a “chaotic long-term drug user” but urged the sheriff to follow the recommendation of background reports and impose a Drug and Treatment Testing Order.
But Sheriff Derrick McIntyre said: “I am not prepared to give a DTTO for this type of offence.
“Drugs are a blight on our society causing crime and misery.
“Those who deal in drugs must expect substantial prison sentences.”
Donald was given three-and-a-half years for heroin dealing and another six months for assaulting a Job Centre employee in a separate incident in Galashiels - both sentences to run consecutively.
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Sunday 19 May 2013
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