Man jailed for hiding £85k heroin stash in mum's house

A JUDGE has called a man who didn't tell his mum that he was hiding an £85,000 heroin stash 'extremely stupid' for getting involved in the drugs trade.

High Court, Edinburgh. File picture: Ian Georgeson

Lady Rae made the remark as she handed biscuit factory worker Sean Evans, 23, a three-year jail term on Thursday.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how Evans and his mother were both detained when drugs squad officers raided their home in Livingston, West Lothian, in June 2015.

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Officers discovered during the raid that Evans was storing smack with a maximum street value of £85,060 for a narcotics dealer.

But when police cautioned Evans and his mum under the Misuse of Drugs Act, he told them: “It’s nothing to do with mum. It’s all mine.”

On Thursday, judge Lady Rae said she had no other option but to send him to prison. She had heard that Evans “bitterly regretted” storing the drugs for another dealer.

She said: “You have been extremely stupid apart from anything else. You have brought shame on you and your family.

“You just need to sit in these courts on a daily basis to know the kind of misery that drugs can bring out the most vulnerable members of our society.

“You played a significant role in bringing these substances onto our streets.”

The story emerged after Evans pleaded guilty earlier this month to being involved in the supply of heroin. Sentence had been deferred to Thursday for the court to obtain reports.

At earlier proceedings, Advocate Depute Paul Brown told the court that detectives raided Evans’s parents house on June 26 2015 after receiving intelligence that he was dealing narcotics.

During the initial stages of the search, both Evans and his mum were detained.

After telling officers about how he kept the stash secret from his mother, Mr Brown said that Evans then confessed to his wrong doing.

Mr Brown said: “The accused was detained and taken to Livingston Police station. Whilst being afforded his rights, he voluntarily stated: ‘I’m not going to do it again. I can only apologise. It won’t happen again.’”

Mr Brown told the court that Evans then explained his involvement in the drugs trade during a police interview.

He said: “The accused was thereafter interviewed. During the interview he stated he was keeping the drugs for an associate whom he declined to name and admitted taking possession of the recovered heroin one evening between Saturday June 20 2015 and Friday June 26 2015 from an unnamed male. He stated that the male had been driving a silver Volkswagen motor car.

“The total Diamorphine recovered was therefore 851.57 grams which could achieve as much as £85,060.

“Fingerprint analysis confirmed the presence of the accused’s fingerprints on a number of the plastic bags.”

On Thursday, defence solicitor advocate Euan Roy said his client was suffering from depression at the time of the offence and that this affected his judgement.

Mr Roy added: “He bitterly regrets his actions. He was at a low ebb when he was approached. He was not in the best frame of mind. There was depression.

“He had stopped taking his medication and he was using too much cannabis.”

Lady Rae also told Evans that the sentence reflected his early guilty plea.