iStockA convicted drug dealer caught with heroin hidden between his buttocks has been jailed for five years.
Jason Cockburn had been taken to a police station when officers initially detected a stench of cannabis coming from his car last December 3 on the A76 Dumfries to Kilmarnock road.
The 49-year-old was searched there and small plastic packages that he had stashed were found.
Cockburn told police: “It is heroin, but I do not know how much it is.”
Prosecutor Victoria Dow told the High Court in Glasgow the hidden haul was valued at £600.
Ms Dow said his home in Kelloholm in Dumfries and Galloway was also searched and more than £500 of cash as well as drug-related items were seized.
On Friday, Cockburn admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin.
His lawyer, Billy Lavelle, told the hearing: “He is a long-standing drug user and has been since he was 15.
“He normally lives in a council house, he does not have a partner and does not appear to have much else in his life other than drugs.”
Cockburn already had a number of class A drug trafficking convictions, including a high court jail term in 2005.
He faced a mandatory seven-year stint back behind bars as a result.
However, Lady Stacey said she had been persuaded by Mr Lavelle not to do so and instead jailed Cockburn for five years.
Cockburn faces a further hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act next February.
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