A woman who was found with bags of “bubbles” has been found guilty of being concerned in its supply at trial.
Nancy Dow of Inch Bridge Cottage, Montrose admitted possession of half an ounce of the former “legal high” mephedrone, also known as M-Cat, on her person and at her home, but denied intent to supply the drug.
Sheriff Gregor Murray found Dow guilty of supply, however, after the court heard from three police witnesses, expert opinion from a former drugs officer, and from the accused herself.
Arbroath Sheriff Court heard the 44-year-old used the Class B drug, derived from plant food, for five years.
Police were called to the Neptune Bar in Montrose by its landlord on May 20 2012.
Dow had been beaten up and sought help in the bar, but inadvertently emptied the pockets of her jacket when talking to police outside, with 10, one-gramme packets of the controlled substance falling to the ground.
Police found more than £390 in her purse and another £500 on searching her home.
Depute fiscal Eilidh Robertson asked Dow where the money had come from.
She had been working as a cleaner and valet at a Jaguar dealership owned by her family, and had started a job at Stracathro Services three weeks before the offence.
Dow said the money in her home had been cash from cleaning and car sales commission, which she was saving in envelopes underneath her bed, and £200 of the money in her purse was from her mother for a trip to Alton Towers.
Asked where she bought the drugs, Dow said: “I met them (the dealers) not at their home, an organised place. It was in a money bag… with 14 resealable bags inside.”
Defence agent Nick Markowski asked Dow: “Did you consume any bags before the police found you in that state?” Dow replied: “Two or three.”
When asked how she would receive the drugs, she said it would “normally be in one lump” of half an ounce, which would last two or three weekends.
The court heard from Detective Constable Pamela Wilson, an expert in the supply of drugs.
She said it would be unusual for someone to buy the drugs in that quantity and packaging without intent to supply.
“I think it’s highly unlikely someone would spend £150 to 200 on 10 one-gramme bags,” she said.
“Every dealer in the chain wants to maximise their profits so they would not give discounts for buying in bulk.”
Sentencing Dow to 100 hours of unpaid work, Sheriff Murray said: “It doesn’t matter at what point you are involved in the supply of drugs, the bottom line is that anyone in your situation is part of the chain.”
Mephedrone was a “legal high” until 2010.