Drug Dealer Caught with Nearly 37,000 Texts About Substances
A man caught with a tiny amount of cannabis had to admit he was a drug dealer after police found 37,000 text messages on his mobile phone.
A man caught with a tiny amount of cannabis had to admit he was a drug dealer after police found 37,000 text messages on his mobile phone.
A "large proportion" of Blair Seaton's messages related to buying and selling drugs and a set of scales was found in his car when he was stopped by police officers.
At Perth Sheriff Court, Seaton, 23, from Pitlochry, admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis between 1 January and 20 June last year.
The court was told that the amount of cannabis found on Seaton when he was searched was so small that it failed to register any weight and had a minimal value.
But as well as the scales in his car he was also found with over £1,000 in cash and the mobile phone crammed full of incriminating texts from his customers.
Fiscal depute Gavin Letford told the court Seaton was jobless but was not claiming benefits and police had received intelligence that he may be supplying the Highland Perthshire town of Pitlochry with drugs.
"Police on patrol saw him in the driver's seat of a vehicle parked by the war memorial. They went to speak to him and there was a strong smell of cannabis emanating from the vehicle.
"Police were aware of recent intelligence linking him with drug dealing activities in the town. A wallet was found containing £1,040. A small amount of cannabis was found.
"From his person they obtained a mobile phone and a clingfilm wrap containing a tiny amount of cannabis. It did not register any weight and has no specified value.
"The mobile phone was taken for examination. A total of 37,000 SMS messages were recovered and a large proportion were found to contain information of evidential value in relation to the supply of controlled drugs.
"The dates of the messages reflect those in the charge," Mr Letford said, revealing that Seaton was sending and receiving more than 200 messages every day on average.
Mr Letford added that Seaton's texts also included a number of picture messages which showed images of the cannabis he was supplying to people in Pitlochry.
"Some of the images were of cannabis and text messages related both to requests for cannabis being received and offers to sell cannabis which he had sent."
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis deferred sentence for the preparation of background reports until next month and Seaton was freed on bail.