A lonely man who offered drugs to an off-duty policeman has been ordered to carry out 152 hours’ community service.
Gracjan Szadkowski was preparing to take his stash of “bubbles” in the toilets of an Auchterarder pub when he was interrupted by Anthony Green.
The officer had been convalescing at the nearby Castlebrae Treatment Centre and was in the bar with colleagues.
Perth Sheriff Court heard that, keen for someone to share his fun, 26-year-old Szadkowski offered the stranger some of his drugs and showed Mr Green a quantity of white powder sitting on a worktop next to a sink.
Mr Green declined and informed his colleagues, who entered the toilets and inquired what the powder was.
When the accused replied that it was “cocaine” and offered the men some, they identified themselves as police and detained him. A further four bags of white powder were found.
Though he identified the drugs as cocaine, tests later revealed that the substance was actually the class B drug mephedrone, also known as “bubbles”, with a value of around £45.
Szadkowski of High Street, Auchterarder, admitted offering to supply “cocaine” in the town’s Glendevon Hotel on September 21 last year.
He claimed he had purchased the mephedrone before it became illegal and explained he was offering it to people in the toilet because he was lonely and did not want to take it alone.