Diazepam fine

A LERWICK man has been fined £1,000 and placed under supervision for 18 months after he admitted supplying diazepam in in the town last year.

Paul Batty, from Rudda Court, had previously pled guilty to supplying the class C drug on 5 September on Lerwick’s Commercial Street.

Last month procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie told Lerwick Sheriff Court that police stopped Batty after he collected a package of four bags containing 373 diazepam tablets from the Commercial Street post office.

The 48 year old told police, who were acting on a tip off, that he was only interested in giving a small amount of tablets to friends.

But a message from a “connected individual” was later found on his phone ordering him to sell 200 tablets.

Defence agent Liam McAllister told the court on Thursday that given Batty should only deserve a financial penalty given his age and record since the incident.

He added that since his arrest the first-time offender had been substance free, through a combination of “fear” and having a “wake-up call”.

Sheriff Philip Mann told Batty that supplying drugs to friends was as bad as selling on a commercial level as it made it easier for others to profit.

However he concluded that the offence was “not the most serious of its kind” due to it involving a class C drug.