Drug peddler caught with multiple 'street deals' of crack cocaine has been jailed

Simon Cleisham, 29, was intercepted shortly before midnight as he tried to ferry a bundle of wraps from one location to another.

He told plain clothes police who stopped him on Greenock's Bow Road: "I'm just holding them for someone."

Cleisham, of Grenville Road in Gourock, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of the Class A narcotic.

Prosecutor David Glancy told the sheriff court: "At 11.35pm officers on plain clothes patrol in Bow Road were dealing with another matter.

"They were approached by the accused and as a consequence of their engagement with him he was detained.

"A zip-lock bag containing 26 wraps was recovered from one of his trouser pockets and £230 in cash from another.

"It was crack cocaine with a value of £540."

Cleisham's lawyer, Ellen Macdonald, said: "It was an act of stupidity on his part and he accepts that fully.

"Mr Cleisham was asked to take a bag and drop it at a shop."

Ms Macdonald added: "There are alternatives to custody identified.

"He has never been in custody before and his home is suitable for a restriction of liberty order.

"He is unlikely to find himself in such a stupid position again."

Sheriff Derek Hamilton told Cleisham: "You pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply and that can be at the low or high end of the supply chain, but all are important to the overall supply chain.

"This is a Class A drug and there is too much of it on the streets.

"There is no alternative to custody here."

Cleisham was sentenced to 190 days, reduced from 240 days due to his guilty plea.