A double cancer sufferer who turned to drug dealing following his second diagnosis was jailed for 16 months at Dundee Sheriff Court.
Alexander James Ogierman had successfully fought off testicular cancer in 2004 but was then given the devastating news that he had developed prostate cancer.
Following a lengthy battle involving chemotherapy treatment, Ogierman turned to amphetamines “just to get out of bed in the morning,” the court was told.
Ogierman, 59, of Grays Lane, Lochee, admitted being concerned in the supplying of mephedrone and amphetamine between November 6 and November 14, 2013, at 6 Grays Lane.
The court heard that he had been caught with drugs potentially worth up to £6,740 after police officers carried out a raid on his home with a search warrant at 9am on November 14.
Ogierman began selling the drugs to pay off debts racked up after he retired from work on medical grounds.
Depute fiscal Vicki Bell told the court he was single and had retired on health grounds after his battles with cancer.
She said: “Police Scotland received intelligence that he was actively involved in supplying controlled drugs.
“Officers found illicit drugs as well as paraphernalia and mobile phones containing drug-related text messages.”
She told the court the total value of mephedrone was between £450 and £1,360 while the amphetamine was valued at between £1,000 and £5,380.
Solicitor George Donnelly said Ogierman had “run with the wrong crowd” which was “wild with drink” but had always worked.
He said: “He worked as a butcher but suffered a protracted testicular cancer in 2004 and received intensive and devastating chemotherapy.
“Shortly after he went into remission he suffered a second diagnosis of prostate cancer.
“Since then he’s been unable to work. His whole world was turned upside down because he couldn’t work.
“While he is in remission the thought of what he has gone through is never far from his mind. He fell into mortgage and council tax arrears and suffered from increased social isolation.
“Because of his low mood and low interest he was perhaps foolishly told that the use of amphetamines would increase his level of activity it would get him up and give him a boost.
“His finances were in a dire state and it soon became clear he couldn’t pay his debts civil or drug.”
Mr Donnelly told Sheriff Alastair Brown: “M’Lord will know what is coming. Drug dealers smell that weakness like a shark smells blood in the water and an offer was made to him to hold drugs and people would come to him.
“His involvement in the drug sub culture comes from that fight against cancer.”
Mr Donnelly added that Ogierman’s house was used as a base for “cutting” the drugs and said all monies were taken from him by the dealers until his debt was paid.
Sheriff Brown told Ogierman that he had been the beneficiary of a “masterful plea in mitigation” by Mr Donnelly but it had not persuaded him against imposing a custodial sentence.
He said, however, he would limit the sentence following the solicitor’s plea.
“Those who participate in any way in the supply of controlled drugs contribute to a problem which ruins lives of those who become addicted and their families,” he said. “I see such people every day standing where you stand now.
“The courts have made it quite clear that those who are concerned in the supply of controlled drugs may expect to be dealt with very firmly.”
The Crown also lodged an application for confiscation of the drugs.