Police spot drug dump

Aug 22 2008 by Jenny Wood, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

A ROAD user who tried to dump drugs in a ditch during a Perth police stop and search exercise is to pay a fine for his folly.

And in a strange turn of events, the drug user thanked the officers who arrested him.

On June 25, road traffic police set up a checkpoint just south of Broxden roundabout.

While police officers were carrying out various roadside checks on vehicles they spotted Robert Jones acting suspiciously.

The Procurator Fiscal depute told the court: “Officers were stopping vehicles when they saw a male passenger walking a short way from one of the vehicles, throwing something into the undergrowth.”

It was discovered Jones had tried to hide small packages of cocaine and cannabis, worth more than £200, at the roadside.

Initially 50-year-old Jones attempted to convince officers he didn’t know who the wraps belonged to, but later conceded they were his for personal use.

In a letter to Perth Sheriff Court, Jones, of Muirhead Avenue in Liverpool, admitted the charge.

And in a bizarre addition he thanked the officers who arrested him.

He wrote: “I would like to thank the arresting officer for since that day I have not taken drugs. I have also sorted out my domestic problems.”

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis ordered Jones to pay a fine of £500 for possession of cocaine, but admonished him on the cannabis charge.