A 52-year-old Fife cocaine dealer has been jailed for three years.
Andrew Bowe was concerned in the supply of the class A drug at his home in Preston Crescent, High Valleyfield, in December 2019.
He was found guilty of the charge by a jury following trial at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.
The potential street value of the cocaine was £9,680.
Bowe was convicted of three further charges of being in possession of heroin and ecstasy – both class A drugs – and class C Etizolam (street valium).
No option but prison
Sentencing him on Monday, Sheriff Charles Macnair said: “You were convicted of a number of drug offences, most seriously being concerned in the supply of cocaine.
“The amount of drugs was a significant quantity found within your premises and the jury found you were concerned in the supply of these”.
The sheriff continued: “The supply of cocaine of this quantity, until comparatively recently, would have been dealt with in the High Court with a High Court sentence.
“Cases are now dealt with in the sheriff court and the length of sentences have reduced in the recent past but having regard to the quantity and class of drugs involved, I am entirely satisfied there is no appropriate alternative but a custodial sentence”.
Sheriff Macnair sentenced Bowe to a total of three years in prison.
Maintains innocence
Defence lawyer Alexander Flett said Bowe maintains his denial of the offences.
The solicitor said the charges are now more than three years old and his client has not been involved in any further offending and had never served a custodial sentence before.
Mr Flett said Bowe had also been “out of trouble” for 13 years prior to a conviction in 2018, dealt with in 2019 by a “modest financial penalty” and that he has no analogous previous convictions.
The lawyer said Bowe suffers from poor health, the details of which are contained in a social work report, not available to the public.
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