News / Flushed item away during police search
A MAN who flushed an item down the toilet after police searched his house has been given 200 hours of unpaid work and placed under supervision for six months.
Christian Duncan, of South Road, Lerwick, previously admitted at Lerwick Sheriff Court to intentionally obstructing three police officers in the exercise of their powers at his home address on 12 December last year.
He also pleaded guilty to a charge of knowingly taking a vehicle without either having the consent of the owner or any other lawful authority near Shetland golf course, at Dale, on 24 June last year.
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie previously told the court that police executed a search warrant of the 19 year old’s address after a suspicious package addressed to him was noticed at a post office.
When the police entered his house, Duncan ran out of his bedroom before officers tried to grab hold of him.
He escaped to the bathroom and managed to force his hand “around the U-bend of the toilet” before flushing.
Mackenzie said there was a small amount of brown residue left, but the item was not recovered.
The fiscal previously told the court that in the road traffic related incident Duncan had been in a car which was being driven by a 14 year old.
Police appeared to see the car broken down at the side of the road before those inside the vehicle ran out onto the nearby golf course.
At Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday, defence agent Martin Morrow said his client had been hoping to move with his family to Spain in late May and questioned whether he could be placed on supervision if he was going to move to another country.
Sheriff Philip Mann decided to give Duncan six months of supervision, as well as unpaid work, in case he didn’t end up travelling to Spain.
He suggested the supervision could be ended early if he did move to Spain, but only if he received a “glowing report” from social workers.
Sheriff Mann said the drugs charge was a “very serious criminal offence” and he told Duncan that there was “more than a hint” that heroin was involved.
The sheriff gave him 120 hours of unpaid work for the offence as an alternative to a custodial sentence and added on another 80 hours for the driving related incident.
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