Drug dealer jailed for five years after hiding haul in pink handbag

Jail sentence: McGivern was jailed for five years.© STV

A drug dealer was jailed for five years after he was caught with nearly £30,000 worth of heroin and cocaine in a pink handbag.

Brendan McGivern was forced to admit he was dealing the drugs after tests on the drug packages showed his fingerprints all over them.

McGivern, 31, was with a group of other people when Tayside Police raided a house, but his were the only prints found on the packages recovered from the handbag.

Fiscal depute Charmaine Cole told Perth Sheriff Court: "Officers had confidential information that drugs may be at the address. They were granted a search warrant.

"When they got to the house there were a number of people within. They found a ladies pink handbag and within that were two blocks of powder, one white and one brown."

She said the brown powder was 164 grams of heroin with a potential street value of £16,400, while the white powder was cocaine worth up to £10,400.

She added: "The householder denied any responsibility and the drugs and package were sent for fingerprint analysis. The accused's fingerprints were found on the packaging."

She said expert drug officers confirmed McGivern was involved in peddling the drugs because the amount involved was far too great to be considered for personal use only.

Solicitor David Holmes, defending, said his client was a father-of-five children who had recently separated from his long-term partner while she suffered post-natal depression.

He said: "He had been asked by another party, who invited him to find a place for this particular bag and its contents. He had the bag at the place where the police turned up.

"There were a number of people there, one of whom may have been the original holder of the drugs, but my client had it for safekeeping that day.

"His position was that he would have received some cocaine. He was found in possession of a large amount of Class A drugs. He knows the court has no option but a custodial sentence.

"He is very anxious about his family situation and realises the difficulties have been compounded by his situation, but he is the author of his own misfortune."

McGivern, of Davie Park Place, Blairgowrie, admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine in the Perthshire town's Coralbank Terrace on 12 May last year.

Sheriff Michael Fletcher said: "These are very serious charges indeed. They involve the supply of Class A drugs of very high value."

He told McGivern he had considered remitting the case to the High Court for sentence, but decided to jail him for a total of five years instead.

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