Glasgow granddad caught with £200k worth of speed
A Glasgow grandad who was caught with nearly £200,000 worth of speed has been jailed for 40 months.
A Glasgow grandad who was caught with nearly £200,000 worth of speed has been jailed for 40 months.
James Kerr, 51, was delivering enough amphetamine to flood Dundee with around 18,000 individual deals when he was caught by police.
Kerr, from Glasgow, had undertaken the drug run in a bid to pay off gangsters from the East End of Glasgow who he owed 2,000 pounds to.
Perth Sheriff Court was told that Kerr's partner owned a cafe and ice cream shop in the Gallowgate which had been targeted by gangsters because of him.
The court was told that members of the drugs gang would regularly visit the cafe and demand free breakfasts as they menaced Kerr to pay off his debts.
Fiscal depute John Malpass told the court: "Police received information that the accused was travelling in a vehicle from Glasgow to Dundee and was suspected to be concerned in the supply of controlled drugs.
"They signaled the vehicle to stop and he pulled into a lay-by. The accused was detained for a search. The vehicle was searched.
"A Sports Direct carrier bag containing five blocks of yellow substance and a Farmfoods bag containing four blocks were recovered.
"The blocks were analysed and found to be amphetamine with a weight of 17.7 kilos. The individual value of one gram deals would be 177,000 pounds. The accused was a disqualified driver."
Kerr's solicitor told the court his client had been a drug addict for "many, many years" and had built up a 2,000 pounds debt which he was being urged to pay off.
He said Kerr had formed a relationship with the cafe owner and only confessed to her what was going on when several heavies turned up demanding free food.
Kerr had been working in the cafe and had tried to pay the debt legitimately but was finally persuaded to undertake a single drug run to Dundee to clear the decks.
He borrowed his girlfriend's car, as she did not know he was banned, and picked up the speed package in London Road, Glasgow, before heading for Dundee.
Kerr, 51, from Glasgow, admitted being concerned in the supply of amphetamine at Broxden in Perth in June this year. He also admitted driving while banned and without insurance.
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis said: "It is a significant weight and a significant value. You will be sufficiently streetwise to know the position I have to take with someone who is concerned in the supply of drugs.
"You were a cog in allowing other people to get caught up in the same kind of operation you were. You know that as well as I."