Dundee doctor avoids prison for importing drugs from India

A Dundee doctor who was previously cleared of killing a friend by giving her painkillers has avoided a prison sentence for importing controlled drugs

Last year Katy McAllister pleaded guilty to importing or attempting to import Oxycodone and morphine, both powerful class A drugs.

Dundee Sheriff Court heard McAllister had in fact been duped by her online supplier in India and sent tablets that she could have bought over-the-counter at any chemist or even in a corner shop.

Instead of powerful drugs like morphine, she received hundreds of hay-fever pills, paracetamol tablets, and ibuprofen.

McAllister, 33, also admitted importing the tranquiliser Diazepam and Temazepam, a sleeping pill, both Class C drugs.

The court heard that she had successfully undergone an operation since the offence -- for a condition which was not disclosed in open court -- which meant she now no longer needed pain-blocking medication.

Her solicitor, George Donnelly, said: "She is now entirely free of any pain relief medication and appears before this court today in a much more settled fashion."

Sheriff Alastair Carmichael ordered McAllister to carry out 210 hours of unpaid work and placed her on social work supervision for two years, as a direct alternative to jail.

He said the serious nature of the offence, and her previous High Court conviction for supplying drugs, meant he had considered a custodial sentence.

He also ordered her to return to court in May for a review of the community payback order, and warned her: "This is your last chance. If you don't succeed on this order there's a very good chance you'll go to prison."

McAllister, who was was employed as a speciality registrar, still faces professional proceedings before the Medical Practitioner's Tribunal Service.

The court heard that the offences were committed at McAllister's home in Seafield Close, Dundee, at the Royal Mail sorting office in Dundee, and at the UK's international postal hub in Coventry between May and August, 2017.

She was found not guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh the same year of causing the death of her pal, Louise McGowan, at Voodoo Tattoo in Dundee in May 2015, by giving her powerful painkillers.

Prosecutors had alleged she had administered the drugs to Mrs McGowan, but the judge ruled they had failed to provide evidence of culpable homicide.

Prosecutor Saima Rasheed told the Dundee court that McAllister's drug-importing activities were discovered during the investigation into the death of Mrs McGowan.

Ms Rasheed said: "On Wednesday, May 3, 2017, a parcel was intercepted by the UK Border Force in Coventry. The package had been sent from India and was addressed to 'Kathy', 17 Seafield Close, Dundee.

"It was inspected by staff and found to contain blister packs stating the contents were 400 Temazepam capsules. Contact was thereafter made with Police Scotland."

Further packages were then intercepted and McAllister was arrested.

She admitted four charges under the Customs and Excise Management Act, of importing or attempting to import restricted or prohibited goods. The offences were committed between May and August 2017

McAllister had been on track for a top career despite her difficult childhood.

Mr Donnelly said: "She's a single mother of two children born and brought up in Glasgow.

"Notwithstanding the situation at home, which was fraught to say the least as a result of her stepfather's violence to her mother, she was a high achiever at school and left with six Highers and four Advanced Highers."

McAllister won a place at Oxford, but opted instead to study medicine in Scotland and began to specialise in acute clinical care.

Mr Donnelly said: "She was on track to become one of the first female consultants in Europe in that field."