A COCAINE peddler tossed nearly £2,500 worth of the class A drug over a wall after being spotted by police on a Greenock street.

William Robertson was trafficking the illicit package from one location to another in the town when he 'walked straight into' the officers.

Robertson, 34, is now beginning a prison sentence of more than two years for his involvement in a wider criminal operation.

The addict — who a sheriff heard has issues with heroin as well as cocaine — had agreed to courier a 60 gram bag of the white powder in order to pay off a drugs debt to a dealer.

Prosecutor Claire Rowan said: "Police were on foot patrol and happened across the accused and had reason to stop and speak with him.

"The officers saw him throwing an item over a wall and stopped and detained him for the purposes of a search."

The cocaine was valued at £1,500 but if subdivided into individual deal-size packages its worth would be £2,400, the court heard.

Robertson, formerly of Belville Street, was stopped on Kilmacolm Road on the evening of May 17 last year.

He also failed to appear for a calling of the case in March.

Lawyer David Tod told the court that his client's cocaine habit had spiralled 'out of control'.

Mr Tod said: "He accepts the difficulty of his position given the nature of the offences.

"He has had contact with a variety of drugs for a number of years and had a heroin problem which he managed.

"He was not in position to manage his cocaine problem and it got out of control.

"He got into debt and was asked to convey the article that he threw away in order for the debt to be written off, and he walked straight into the police."

Sheriff Joseph Hughes sentenced Robertson to 25 months imprisonment, backdated to May 20, the date when he was remanded in custody on the matter.