Heroin possession

TWO MEN in Shetland have admitted separate charges of being caught in possession of heroin last November.

Thirty nine year old Mark Smith, of 35 St Sunniva Street, Lerwick, admitted possessing traces of the class A substance in the car park of the Tesco supermarket on Sea Road on 13 November.

Kevin Hughson, 34, of Craigdubh, Bressay, also admitted possessing traces of the drug at the Bressay Ferry Terminal seven days later.

Both men were fined £150, reduced from £200 to reflect the stage at which they pleaded guilty, at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Tuesday. 

Defence agent Tommy Allan said Smith’s offence occurred after he had been diagnosed with severe depression. He is now back working in fishing and the incident was “hopefully a blip in an otherwise lawful life”.

Allan said Hughson had also turned to drugs while going through some personal difficulties and again it was “very much a blip”.