VIGILANT police on a routine patrol in Greenock uncovered a drug supply operation worth thousands of pounds — and a dealer has now been locked up.

Alert officers spotted white-coloured bags being loaded into the rear of a car in the town’s East Crawford Street at night and decided to follow the vehicle.

After it had stopped at an address in Arden Road a search revealed that peddler Malcolm Hutton had just transported nearly £3,000 worth of cannabis a mile across town.

And a further examination at a flat in East Crawford Street that Hutton had just driven from yielded a further haul of the herbal drug with a street value of more than £4,000.

Procurator fiscal depute Lindy Scaife told Greenock Sheriff Court: “At 8.30pm police on mobile patrol saw a vehicle, and a female placing two white bags into its rear.

“The accused entered the vehicle and police followed it.

“The vehicle stopped in Arden Road and officers approached the accused.

“There was a strong smell of cannabis and he freely stated that he had a bit of herbal cannabis on him and he gave it to the police.

“It transpired that it weighed 30 grams.

“Police searched the boot of the vehicle and one of the bags had a large quantity of herbal material totalling 230 grams.”

Ms Scaife added: “Officers attended at the East Crawford Street home of the accused’s sister, who was a passenger in the car.

“There was a smell of cannabis within and she was detained.

“She said, ‘It’s all my brother’s’.

“In a bedroom upstairs a cardboard box was removed from a cupboard and there were a large number of zip lock bags containing 443 grams of cannabis.”

The court heard that the quantity of the drug removed from the car had a potential value of £2,900 and the possible financial yield from that seized from the flat has been put at £4,430.

Hutton, of Arden Road, pleaded guilty to a charge of being concerned in the supply of cannabis. He committed the offence on May 31 last year.

His lawyer, Gerry Keenan, said that the father-of-three was ‘petrified’ at the prospect of prison but accepted that the amount of the drug he was caught with was ‘significant’.

Mr Keenan added: “He otherwise leads a law-abiding life.”

The solicitor told the court: “He has had a dependency on cannabis over a period of 20 years on a daily basis to a significant extent.

“He has also been involved in football at an amateur level and continues to play fives.

“If the court were to incarcerate him there would be wider implications and the removal of the children’s father would be acutely felt.

“The seriousness of this matter is not lost on Mr Hutton.”
Sheriff Iain Fleming told Hutton: “I’m afraid that I take the view that the quantity here is too high to deal with this matter in any way other than custody.

“I must consider the public interest here.”

The sheriff jailed Hutton for six months.