A WOMAN has been jailed for trying to move thousands of pounds worth of heroin through Helensburgh and Lomond to coastal communities.
Nadia McCartney was caught with the drugs on the A82 close to Loch Lomond Golf Club, near Luss as she acted as a courier to help feed her own addiction.
The 24-year-old, who was taken to Clydebank police office after being stopped by police on the trunk road, previously pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of diamorphine, which the court heard was in five bags worth a total of about £3,000. Divided into deals, it would be worth about £6,000.
Dumbarton Sheriff Court heard last week that a drug treatment and testing order (DTTO) had been imposed on December 4, 2019 but McCartney was caught with the class A drug just 20 days later, on December 24.
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At a hearing on September 16, McCartney - who, the court heard, had been introduced to heroin at the age of 17 - was said to have taken full responsibility for her actions.
Her solicitor told the hearing last Wednesday: “She’s a heroin addict herself, so this seemed like a good deal.
“This was to fund her own addiction. At some stage she will have to change her life.
“She has tried to make a concerted effort to get out of addiction.”
McCartney’s engagement with the DTTO was “pretty poor”, heard the court, but she was now working with support services.
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McCartney, of Rhuvaal Road, Oban, had never been jailed before and the DTTO had been a struggle with her chaotic lifestyle.
Sheriff William Gallacher said the amount of drugs was “not trivial” and the “planning of it is deliberate”.
He told McCartney: “When this case first called, I expressed my horror.
“You have been involved in the process whereby you make drugs available to a community outside the central belt.”
The sheriff said that “even the process whereby you’re a courier for others will result in a custodial sentence”.
McCartney was jailed for eight months.
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