Drug dealer prison officer lands jail term

Dec 31 2008

A HAMILTON cocaine dealer caught with £1100 of the drug in his underpants was this week jailed for two years.

Police found the drugs on prison officer John Hunter after stopping him in Burnbank Road on July 27 last year for driving without a seatbelt.

Hunter (26) of Kenmar Road, Whitehill, had claimed that the drugs had belonged to co-accused Thomas Gillan.

Both men had denied a charge of possessing the drug with intent to supply, but following a trial at Hamilton Sheriff Court a jury found Hunter guilty by unanimous verdict.

Twenty-year-old Gillan was found not guilty on a charge of drug dealing, but convicted of possessing 6.9 grams of cocaine. He had told the court that Hunter was his dealer.

When Hunter was stopped he showed police his prison service ID card and asked: “What are you doing this for? We’re in the same line of work.” Officers found 27.8g of cocaine in a bag when they searched Hunter. Traces of the drug were also found in his wallet.

Hunter claimed that the drugs were Gillan’s. He said he panicked when the officers stopped his car and hid the drugs in his underpants.

Addressing Sheriff Frank Pieri on Tuesday, Hunter’s solicitor Robert Carty said his client was a first offender. He added that Hunter was in a stable relationship, had regular employment and had been a useful member of society.

Mr Carty suggested that given these circumstances it was reasonable for the Sheriff to conclude that there was an alternative to a custodial sentence.

Gillan’s agent, Nicholas Scullion, said his client was engaged to be married and that he and his fiancee were expecting a child.

The matter before the court, he added, had been a ‘watershed’ for Gillan who had ‘learned his lesson.’

He suggested that community service, probation, or a combination of both would be a suitable disposal.

Passing sentence Sheriff Pieri told Hunter: “You come from a good background and are a first offender with a good job, but you have been found guilty of possession of a significant amount of a class-A drug with intent to supply.

“This is an extremely serious matter. The only way of dealing with this is through a prison sentence.”

Sheriff Pieri, however, told Gillan that since he was found guilty by a jury of possessing the drug – on terms which he had previously submitted a guilty plea – he would fine him £170.