Court strips drug dealing window cleaner of ill-gotten gains

Feb 10 2010 Paisley Daily Express

A MAN who was jailed for stashing cocaine at his Paisley flat has had £12,400 stripped from him after appearing back in court at a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing.

Last October, Paisley Sheriff Court heard that window cleaner Gavin Stewart, 40, started hanging out with a clubbing crowd and ended up in debt to dealers who supplied him with the Class A drug.

First offender Stewart, of Fitzallan Drive, Gallowhill, was locked up after he admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine at his home.

He told the court he had agreed to let his home be used to store the stash as a way to repay some of his drug debts.

The court was told that, when he was younger, Stewart developed a cocaine habit but managed to conquer it.

However, when he started socialising with a group who took him out clubbing, he went back to using the drug.

Stewart then quickly ran up “significant” drug debts.

Traffic cops who stopped Stewart’s car to talk to him for allegedly speeding searched the vehicle and found cocaine.

Officers then got a search warrant for his home and discovered drugs with a street market value of between £6,000 and £10,000.

They also seized £12,000 in cash during the investigation and that sum – plus a further £400 – has now been confiscated following Stewart’s latest court appearance.

The cash was seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act probe, which scrutinised his assets.

Back in October, defence agent Kirsty McGeehan said that Stewart had fallen into a situation which gave him very little alternative but to comply with the wishes of others.

The lawyer stressed that her client was a first offender, had no other matters pending and had simply been pressurised to allow his home to be used by others.

Ms McGeehan said Stewart was “very surprised” when he was told about the quantity of drugs that had been found in his home because he had no idea of the scale of the operation.

Sheriff George Kavanagh had jailed him for 30 months.