A criminal duo rumbled by cops with £30,000 of dirty cash stashed in a van have avoided a jail term.
Paisley scaffolding boss Andrew Early and pal Christopher Divers admitted concealing the cash that was recovered under Proceeds of Crime laws.
Terry Gallanagh, defending Early, said the undeclared funds had been stored through “greed and stupidity".
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Divers and accomplice Early were collared by cops almost six years ago, on November 10, 2015.
Prosecutors say they had the £30k in dodgy cash concealed in the van on Princes Street in Port Glasgow and on the M8 motorway when they were nicked at Junction 30, near Erskine.
Divers, 35, and scaffolding boss Early appeared at Paisley Sheriff Court for sentence.
A defence agent for Divers, who also works in scaffolding, told the court: “Mr Divers accepts he got involved as an opportunity to make some easy money.”
“It didn’t quite work out that way because the police were clearly aware of this and stopped this man and his friend on the M8 and found the money.”
The agent said his client, of Crookston, Glasgow, was “immature” and didn’t “think through properly” what he was ending up in.
Divers’ agent said he had not been involved in anything of this nature before or since but admitted his client had committed an offence involving a weapon at the age of 18, adding: “He is not someone who has analogous convictions”.
He said his client has had the offence “hanging over him” for “quite a time” and said it led to the breakdown of Divers’ relationship with his former partner - with whom he has two children.
But the defence said Divers, now of Lugton, Ayrshire, had “got on with his life” in the interim and now has a family with a new partner.
He said his client had expressed “his remorse” over the incident and told the court he is the sole breadwinner, adding: “He is a family man, not in any further trouble and contributes positively to society.
“Mr Divers’ main concern is that my Lordship may send him into custody, I urge my Lordship not to do that.”
Defending 36-year-old Early, Mr Gallanagh added: “That’s really where Mr Early finds himself, at the edge of destruction by his own greed and his own
stupidity.
“He has been feckless in getting himself involved with this, not considering the consequences for himself or perhaps more importantly, the consequences for his family and certainly not considering the consequences for society, but instead being blinded by greed.
“The period that it’s taken to get these proceedings before a court has allowed him to reflect on that.”
The agent said the interim period between the offence and sentence had allowed the dad-of-four to “focus his mind” on the potential consequences.
He added: “Andrew Early is an intelligent man, an able man, he has a great deal to give to society.”
Mr Gallanagh said sending Early, whose address was given as Murray Street in Paisley, to custody would be “disproportionate”.
The agent said his client had the support of bosses at Top Scaffolding.
Sheriff Tom McCartney said he found that there was a “suitable alternative to prison” for the pair but warned: “That required to be a robust alternative”.
He handed down a Community Payback Order to both men, ordering that they carry out 225 hours of unpaid work and imposed a nine-month Restriction of Liberty Order, meaning they will be tagged and must stay at home between 7pm and 6am.
A proceeds of crime hearing involving the case is also set to take place next month.
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