Court / Young trio ordered to pay Dogs Against Drugs compensation for drugs offences

THREE YOUNG men caught in a “fairly significant” drugs enterprise have been ordered to pay almost £4,000 to charity Dogs Against Drugs as a means of compensation.

Jamie Atkinson, Paul Newlands and a teenager – who cannot be identified due to his age – were stopped by police on 12 May 2024 and found to have wraps of cocaine and cannabis, and nearly £4,000 in cash hidden under the steering wheel of Atkinson’s car.

A search of the phones of 22-year old Newlands and the third boy revealed a “fairly significant enterprise” selling drugs, which also included ecstasy, to people in Shetland.

Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said the quantities of drugs found in the May bust “does not reflect the extent of this enterprise”.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank said he had given serious consideration to sending all three to either prison or detention centres for their crimes.

But after being told that all three had been drug users who had since quit, the sheriff offered them the chance instead to make a significant impact to the prevention of drugs coming to Shetland.

Advertisement3 of 9

Lerwick Sheriff Court heard on Wednesday that the three young men had been stopped by police in the early hours of 12 May, with a “strong smell of cannabis” coming from the car.

A search found 12.15g of cocaine, 71.56g of herbal cannabis and 5.29g of cannabis resin, as well as £3,780 in cash being stored in a gap underneath Atkinson’s steering wheel.

The drugs, at their maximum street value, could have achieved a total of £2,290, the court heard.

Their phones were seized, and though 22-year-old Atkinson’s proved inaccessible a large amount of evidence of drug sales was recovered from the phones of Newlands and the other boy.

Atkinson, from Walls, admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis, but was described as the one driving others around to make drug deals.

He also pleaded guilty to driving without insurance or an MOT on his car when stopped by police in Lerwick in May 2024.

Newlands, from Lerwick’s Sands of Sound, admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy.

The third boy admitted to being concerned in the supply of cocaine and ecstasy, both class A drugs, with some of the instances of ecstasy sales occurring at Sandveien and the Hayfield House car park.

The court heard a lengthy narrative about the extent of offending uncovered between 1 March and 12 May 2024.

A number of customers were discovered through the mobile phones of Newlands and the youngest boy, with the youngest boy at one point said to “boast” to one customer about how much ecstasy he could get them.

Advertisement4 of 9

The fiscal said the messaging was “fairly repetitive”, with the two talking about “sniff and pills” that they had for sale.

At one point the young boy said to Newlands he had lost some ecstasy tablets, to which Newlands responded it could be in “Jamie’s car” – which was said to indicate Atkinson.

There was also a number of messages between the pair, the court heard, offering to swap drugs for other customers.

The weekend was said to be their busiest time, with the youngest boy boasting to Newlands on 2 May 2024 that his phone was “already going for people wanting at the weekend”.

As well as the cash uncovered under Atkinson’s steering wheel, more money was also found in the footwell of the car, the court was told.

No ecstasy was recovered in the May bust, but Mackenzie said this had been a “fairly significant” drug-selling enterprise between the three of them.

Advertisement5 of 9

Solicitor Gregor Kelly, defending Atkinson, apologised to the court for what he said was a poor attitude from his client towards a social work report presented to the sheriff.

He said Atkinson had told him previously that he “knew what was going on” and that he “was involved”.

His involvement had been to drive people around, wrapping drugs and counting money, Kelly said.

However Atkinson had then sought to minimise his involvement to social work afterwards, he added, which he said “simply doesn’t wash”.

Atkinson had been taking cocaine every day at one point, the court heard, but was now off drugs.

Neil McRobert, representing the youngest boy, said his client had become involved with drugs and alcohol at the age of 14 after losing a close family member.

He said he had begun selling drugs to pay off a drug debt, but admitted he had also been doing it to make money.

Advertisement6 of 9

His client accepted full responsibility for his conduct, he said.

Solicitor Tommy Allan was representing Newlands, and said his client “wasn’t blaming anyone else” for what had happened.

Newlands “wasn’t mature enough to think of the risks involved or the consequences” when he began selling drugs.

Sheriff Cruickshank said that while this offending had only taken place over two-and-a-half months, it was an “extremely serious matter”.

“I don’t really know if you appreciate how close each of you are to ending up in detention or jail for a lengthy period of time,” he told them.

However he said he had to take into account their ages, and that all three either had no previous convictions or very minimal convictions.

The sheriff said he had a “glimmer of hope” that all three were beginning to grasp the positive effect they could have on the community.

Advertisement7 of 9

With that in mind, he ordered Atkinson and Newlands to each pay sums of £1,500 to the charity Dogs Against Drugs through a compensation requirement.

They will also have to undertake 225 hours of unpaid work within the next 12 months and will be placed under supervision for the next 18 months.

Atkinson was given six penalty points for driving without insurance too.

The sheriff ordered the youngest boy to pay Dogs Against Drugs £750, because he was earning less than the other two, for a total payment of £3,750 to the charity.

The youngest boy will be placed under supervision for 18 months too, and ordered to carry out 225 hours of unpaid work.

Finishing up, Sheriff Cruickshank said he hoped the Thomas Drever case from Monday would serve as a reminder to the trio what would happen if they did not pay the compensation.