Edinburgh crime: 19-year-old Liam Stewart who was jailed following death of schoolgirl in Bathgate in 2019 has sentence revoked

A teenager who was branded "a ruthless drug dealer" after he sold ecstasy which was taken by a schoolgirl who died has had his jail term overturned by appeal judges.

The case was heard at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh.

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Liam Stewart, 19, was sentenced to 45 months detention at Livingston Sheriff Court last year after admitting supplying the Class A drug between March and August in 2019.

He agreed to sell a gram of ecstasy to a 16-year-old girl for 20 pounds in Bathgate, West Lothian, who then shared the drug with a friend aged 15.

The younger girl became ill and developed a high temperature and suffered a cardiac arrest and died despite medical efforts to save her.

When police searched Stewart's bedroom they found a further quantity of ecstasy worth pounds 250.

The sheriff who sentenced him for the drugs offence told him: "You are to be regarded as a ruthless drug dealer, selling a potentially lethal product for personal gain."

Lawyers acting for Stewart, who had moved from West Lothian to Fife, appealed against the sentence imposed on the teenager claiming that it was excessive.

Lord Doherty, who heard the legal challenge with Lord Matthews at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh, said: "We are in no doubt that the sentence which the sheriff imposed was excessive."

He said: "We have the strong impression that the sheriff here was heavily influenced by the tragic and fatal consequences of the consumption of ecstasy which the appellant had supplied (to the other girl)."

"The sheriff seems to have sentenced the appellant for something which did not form part of the libel to which he had pled guilty," said the senior judge.

"His characterisation of the appellant as a ruthless drug dealer, and his assessment of the level and extent to his drug dealing, were not accurate descriptions of the position."

"The appellant was a drug user who had supplied to his peer group as a means of funding his own drug use. He was not an adult dealer preying on young people and children. The quantities of drugs supplied and the money which he made were modest and low level."

Lord Doherty said they took into account Stewart's age at the time of the offence and that he was genuinely remorseful. He said: "His mental health had suffered because he blamed himself for the occurrence of the tragedy."

The judge said Stewart had abstained from drugs and secured an apprenticeship.

Lord Doherty said: "We recognise that even on a correct view of the facts the decision between detention and a non-custodial disposal is a difficult one in the present case. However, we are satisfied that the balance ought to come down in favour of a non-custodial disposal."

They imposed a community payback order on Stewart and ordered he carry out 100 hours unpaid work, which took account of the time he has spent in custody.

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