News / Fined for having diazepam
A FORTY two year old man who admitted possession of class C drug diazepam has been fined £600 at Lerwick Sheriff Court.
Christopher Leask, of 133 Sandveien, Lerwick, pleaded guilty to having 25 tablets, with a value of around £25, at the town’s Scalloway Road on 1 February this year.
Defence agent Tommy Allan told the court his client had paid £10 for what he thought was the legal high triazepam, though he was aware there was a risk the tablets might contain diazepam.
Leask fully cooperated with the police when they stopped him. Allan said his client had suffered from mental health problems and a long-standing difficulty with drug misuse.
Around the time of this offence he had been self-medicating, but the solicitor said that was no longer a feature of Leask’s life.
Sheriff Philip Mann said that, with a criminal record including past convictions for more serious drug offences, every time Leask appeared before the court “raises the possibility of custody”.
But “with some reluctance” he was content to deal with the matter by imposing a £600 fine, reduced from £750 to reflect the early guilty plea.
Meanwhile, a woman who admitted driving a vehicle without a valid insurance policy has been given three penalty points and fined £300.
Yvonne Duncan, 45, of 5 South Road, Lerwick, committed the offence on the town’s A970 road on 11 November last year.
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