Tip-off led police to heroin worth £15,000 at Perth homes

Nov 20 2009 by Les Stewart, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

DRUGS squad officers seized almost £15,000 worth of heroin when they raided two houses in the Fairfield district of Perth.

Acting on a tip-off, police, armed with a search warrant, first went to a flat in Menzies Court on February 23.

They forced entry but the house was empty, Perth Sheriff Court was told on Wednesday.

They then targeted another nearby flat in McKenzie Court and detained 37-year-old Kevin Mathieson under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

The premises were searched and officers took possession of mobile phones, a brown substance and several clingfilm wraps, also containing substances.

As a consequence, 144.9 grammes of heroin were recovered. It had a potential illicit value of £14,900.

That led to Mathieson, of Menzies Court, being jailed for 30 months.

The sentence was backdated to October 22, when he was remanded in custody.

Mathieson admitted being concerned in the supply of the Class A drug on February 23.

Depute fiscal John Malpass said that information obtained from a witness and from the mobile phones indicated that the accused had been concerned in the supply of heroin that day.

Solicitor David Holmes said the accused used heroin and he acknowledged that his habit had “become far more serious than before.”

Passing sentence, Sheriff Michael Fletcher said a custodial sentence was “inevitable.”

He also noted that the accused had a previous conviction for supplying cannabis resin in the “not too distant past.”