Young mum jailed for dealing cocaine
A YOUNG mother was jailed for one year at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Thursday after she pled guilty to dealing cocaine to a circle of her friends.
Sheriff Philip Mann told 23 year old Sarah Gibson that even though she had made no financial gain, he had to send out a clear message to deter others from dealing Class A drugs.
Gibson was arrested on 26 January when police were tipped off about a package addressed to Gibson’s home at 10 Aestbrek, Sandwick.
When officers arrived at her home, she led them to a beach where the package containing 110 grammes of cocaine, worth up to £4,350, was concealed beneath an upturned boat. Inside the house they found cash and scales.
Under interview, she told police that she had been offered cheap cocaine in bulk by a man at a party and had intended to supply an extended circle of friends. The package had contained more than she had expected, the court heard.
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said that he accepted Gibson was not involved in a commercial venture.
Defending, Nehe Sood said that since her arrest Gibson had moved to 22 Sandholm Place, Yorker, Glasgow, to escape the stigma of the conviction, which had forced her to give up custody of her five year old child.
She had given up drugs, obtained work in a bar and was volunteering for the housing charity Shelter while she tried to rebuild her life.
However Sheriff Mann said he could only avoid sending Gibson to prison if there were “truly exceptional circumstances”, which did not exist in this case.
“You may well have been a stooge or a misguided fool by supplying your friends…but by assisting those friends to source cheaper drugs you were assisting a drug dealer higher up the chain,” the sheriff said.
“I have a public duty to send out a clear signal that anyone who becomes involved in the supply of Class A drugs can expect to go to prison.”
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