A former soldier who was caught with almost £15,000 worth of cocaine after causing a car smash faces a further wait for sentencing.
Christopher Lawson, who was shot in Afghanistan while serving with the parachute regiment, caused a high-speed crash on the A92 near Melville Lodges roundabout in December 2016.
The 36-year-old spent three years on the run after initially failing to turn up for a scheduled trial in October 2017.
Police finally caught up with Lawson in June this year after he returned to Britain from working in private security in the Middle East.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard how Lawson, who is remanded at HMP Perth, will be sentenced next month so a restriction of liberty order assessment can be carried out on his father’s home.
Prosecutor Christine Allan described how Lawson crashed his car before he was seen trying to dump drugs and a knife in nearby bushes.
“The accused was driving his Audi A5 dangerously and encroached on the opposing carriageway and driving at excessive speeds,” she told Sheriff Tom Hughes.
“Another witness took a position behind the accused car and saw the accused enter the roundabout. He exited onto the opposing carriageway and collided with another witness’s car.
“The accused was seen to get out of the car and take several items and walk to bushes before returning. He did this a second time before being challenged by witnesses.”
The fiscal added: “Police attended and the accused confirmed he was the driver. An officer attended with a sniffer dog, opened the boot of the accused’s car and noticed several open holdalls.
“The area where the accused had been was pointed out and the police found a clear blue bag of white powder and a black-handled kitchen knife.”
Almost £148g of cocaine was discovered in the bag, which had a maximum potential street value of £14,700. Both the bag containing the drugs and the knife had traces of Lawson’s DNA on it.
Lawson previously pleaded guilty to driving dangerously, being concerned in the supply of cocaine and possessing the knife.
Defence solicitor Paul Parker-Smith said previously that Lawson left the army in 2011 after being shot.
He said Lawson turned to drugs and alcohol after plans to open up a gym did not come to fruition.
Sheriff Hughes further deferred sentence for a restriction of liberty order assessment to be carried out and continued to remand Lawson in custody.
This article originally appeared on the Evening Telegraph website. For more information, read about our new combined website.