A drugs mule caught on a train in Dundee carrying heroin with a street value of more than £72,000 has been jailed for two years.
Steven Convery (43) had aroused the suspicions of rail staff before he even set foot on the train that was to take him north from his Liverpool home.
Convery admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin on September 30, 2010. The court previously heard that he had bought a ticket to Aberdeen and staff noticed that he was carrying a rucksack and believed they could smell cannabis.
They alerted British Transport Police, who boarded the train when it stopped in Dundee and identified Convery from the description they had been given.
The officers found 1.1kg of heroin wrapped in a towel in the rucksack. The drugs would be worth £20,000 “wholesale” but had a potential value of £72,214.
An agent for Convery told the court his “own pride” had led to him finding himself in that situation.
“Following depression and unemployment he borrowed money to hide his difficulties from his family,” the agent said. “He fell into the hands of a very unscrupulous individual and couldn’t see a way out.
“He couldn’t seek the proper remedy of going to the police. Instead he took on this ‘job’.
“He has the full support of some of his family but has lost the support of others as a result of his involvement.”
The agent said Convery was aware that a custodial sentence was inevitable and he realised that he had a debt to pay back to society.
Convery gave police no information about the ownership of the drugs, where they had come from or where they were headed, the court heard.
Sentencing Convery to two years’ imprisonment, Sheriff Tom Hughes told him, “You have to acknowledge that the only way to deal with this is a custodial sentence, given the value involved.
“While this would normally carry a three-year sentence, I will discount this to two years.”