A hapless drug dealer faces a jail sentence after getting a lift from police while carrying suitcases stuffed with £140,000 worth of cannabis.
Jesse Winsborough crashed the car he was driving in a blizzard and was spotted pulling luggage alongside the A9 in Perthshire.
Officers stopped to offer him a lift to a train station but as they lifted the cases into the vehicle, they noticed a smell of cannabis from the baggage.
Perth Sheriff Court heard the cops then found about 14kg of marijuana, with a potential street value of £140,000.
Self-employed flooring worker Winsborough, 30, of Waltham Forest, London, admitted being concerned in the supply of the drug on a journey between London and Perthshire in January last year.
Fiscal depute Michael Sweeney told the court a witness and his wife were travelling on the A9 when they saw a car lose control, hit a verge and end up on its roof.
The witness rang the police and spoke to the occupants of the car - Winsborough and his former co-accused Jade Lawlor, who angrily asked why he had called the police. The witness then saw Winsborough and Lawlor walk off.
Police arrived at the crash scene and saw the Citroen car on its roof. The boot was lying open and there was no one inside or near the vehicle.
Winsborough and Ms Lawlor were spotted nearly an hour later pulling two large suitcases.
Mr Sweeney said: “They confirmed they had been involved in an accident and were waiting for someone to pick them up. They were told they’d be taken somewhere safe and agreed to be dropped off at Gleneagles station.
“When officers placed the cases inside the vehicle they noticed a strong smell of cannabis.”
The cases were locked and Lawlor said they didn’t know the combination for the padlocks. She also claimed: “They aren’t our cases.”
When the cases were opened they were stuffed full of herbal cannabis.
Lawlor’s not guilty plea was accepted and Sheriff George Way deferred sentence on Winsborough.
