A man who supplied diazepam tablets to others while a resident at Stirling’s Springkerse homeless accommodation unit has been jailed for six months.
Steven Lowe, now of Bannockburn, was caught with 128 tablets, later found to be the class-C drug.
The 39-year-old admitted a charge of being concerned in the supply of diazepam on various occasions between July 1 and September 3, 2020, at Springkerse and elsewhere to another or others - and possession of class-A drug methadone.
Fiscal depute Sean Isles told Stirling Sheriff Court on Wednesday that at 11.20am on Thursday, September 3, 2020, police officers executed a warrant at a room in Springkerse where the accused was traced.
The warrant was read out to him and a search carried out by police.
Items recovered during the search included £75 in cash, a black Nokia phone, two Samsung phones, two bottles of liquid with people’s names on them, two SIM cards, a bag which contained blister tablet packs, and a Sony phone.
Given the items recovered Lowe was arrested under the Misuse of Drugs Act and made no reply when cautioned.
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He was taken to Falkirk Police Office where a search was carried out on the accused in which police recovered a bag containing tablets.
The fiscal depute said the items recovered were sent to a forensic science laboratory for analysis.
The bag contained eight yellow tablets which were identified as diazepam. The 120 white tablets on blister strips were also identified as diazepam.
Mr Iles added that the bottles of liquid - one 49ml and the other 78ml – were identified as methadone.
The tablets had a street value of £69 to £138 and the methadone a potential street value of £15.
Not guilty pleas to charges of being concerned in the supply of class-C drug pregabalin and possessing class-C drug buprenorphine, a painkiller, were accepted by the Crown.
Lowe’s agent Alastair Ross told Sheriff Alison Michie at Stirling Sheriff Court on Wednesday that his client had experienced significant drug abuse difficulties over the years. His family had also been blighted by drugs including two of his brothers who had died from overdoses.
Lowe struggled to cope, added the lawyer, and self medicated by continuing to abuse drugs.
He had been a carer for another brother, but had stepped back from the role while seeking to address his own drug problem.
Mr Ross described Lowe as the author of his own misfortune, but said there were sentencing options before the court other than custody.
Sheriff Alison Michie however pointed out that the offence had been carried out while Lowe was subject to an unexpired portion of a previous sentence and the only appropriate disposal was a custodial one.
She sentenced Lowe to six months’ imprisonment on the charge of being concerned in the supply of diazepam and nine weeks’ on the charge of possessing methadone. The terms were to run concurrently.
