THE mother of Greenock fire bomber Robert Warnock has been convicted of drugs offences at the sheriff court.

Caroline McIntosh had been charged with supplying cocaine but her guilty plea to the lesser charge of simple possession of the class A drug was accepted by the Crown.

She also admitted to having amphetamine at her flat on Nelson Street when police raided it last February.

Her lawyer, Amy Spencer, told the court that McIntosh, 48, had 'particular difficulties' at the time as her son awaited trial at the High Court.

Ms Spencer said: "One of her sons had tragically passed away and Ms McIntosh was struggling.

"Another son was facing trial at the High Court, and she felt that she had lost two sons at the time she committed these offences."

Warnock, 26, and five other men were jailed for a total of 64 years between them after trying to kill seven people — including a six-year-old girl — in a wave of targeted night-time attacks.

He was given a 15-year sentence for orchestrating what judge Lord Mulholland described as a 'campaign of terror'.

Solicitor Ms Spencer said of McIntosh: "She has a history in relation to her record but she has never before been convicted of a drugs offence.

"Ms McIntosh is now on prescribed medication and has come to terms with the loss of her son as best she can."

Sheriff Sukhwinder Gill told McIntosh: "You have now pleaded guilty to a much less serious charge than what was before the court earlier.

"I have been told of the background here and I take that into account.

"You have quite a lengthy record for violence, offensive weapons and shoplifting."

The court was told that McIntosh had £160 worth of cocaine and amphetamine valued at £5.

Sheriff Gill fined McIntosh £380 for the cocaine offence and admonished her on the amphetamine charge.

McIntosh had also been charged with having anti-anxiety drug pregabalin, diazepam and 'street valium' etizolam, however, her not guilty pleas to these allegations were accepted by the Crown.