Man, 60, jailed for giving Edinburgh drug dealers a 'safe house'

A 60-year-old man who admitted providing a “safe house” for drug dealers has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.

William Wilcox. Picture: Police Scotland

William Wilcox, from Lochend, admitted being concerned in the supply of the class A drugs heroin and cocaine and the class B drug ketamine.

He was snared as part of a Police Scotland surveillance operation called Operation ELAB in May 2018, a court heard.

William Wilcox. Picture: Police Scotland

Detectives saw suspected drug dealer Adamson Amos, who has since died, leaving Wilcox’s home in Hawkhill Close.

Amos ran away from officers after a car chase, throwing away a kilo of heroin as he escaped, but was detained shortly afterwards.

He had £1790 in cash in his possession and the set of keys in his van’s ignition contained a safe key.

Officers got a search warrant for Wilcox's home and found a safe hidden in his hall cupboard..

The number on the key - 895 - matched the lock on the safe.

Wilcox told detectives he was aware of the safe but denied ownership of it.

Gordon Martin, defending, admitted that his client had suspected that the safe might contain drugs.

He said Mr Amos, a friend of Wilcox's son, had appeared to be under pressure when he asked him to look after the safe.

But he said the accused now recognised that he might have been "played" by the younger man.

Passing sentence at the High Court at Livingston, judge Lord Beckett highlighted that the illegal drugs recovered by police had a street value estimated at more than £200,000.

He told Wilcox: “I recognise that prison is difficult for you given the crime-free life you have lived until now.

“You are plainly well regarded by friends and work colleagues and have shown kindness and empathy to them.

“However, these remain serious offences. You allowed substantial quantities of drugs to be stored in your house.

"In effect you provided a safe house which facilitated others to distribute harmful drugs of kinds which caused substantial damage to members of the community and the community as a whole.”

He added: “Given the amount of two different Class A drugs and a third Class B drug I take a serious view of these crimes.

“You played a limited role but it was nevertheless integral to the chain of supply and distribution.

“For your role in being concerned in the supply of such quantities of controlled drugs with such substantial value – even allowing for all the circumstances favourable to you – I conclude that there is no suitable alternative to a prison sentence.

“For crimes of such gravity it’s necessary to punish you and seek to deter people who may be tempted to become involved in assisting drug dealers in promoting their damaging activities.”

Lord Beckett backdated the prison sentence to April 25 this year when Wilcox was remanded in custody.