Courier thought cocaine was shoes

Dare claimed he thought shoes were in the two boxes

A court has been told how a minicab driver caught with £160,000 worth of cocaine claimed he thought he was delivering a pair of shoes to Scotland.

Henry Dare, 52, of Deptford Church Street, London, said he had been offered £260 to deliver two boxes.

He claimed he was shocked to find they contained drugs when stopped by police on the A74(M) motorway near Lockerbie.

However, a jury at the High Court in Glasgow convicted him of being concerned in supplying cocaine.

The court heard that Dare claimed a man called Frank had offered to pay him to deliver the shoes.

He said he was told one shoe was inside a Moet & Chandon champagne box and the other in a Remy Martin brandy box.

Dare said he had not looked inside the boxes and was shocked to discover they contained cocaine.

The jury did not believe his story and convicted him of the offence which took place in September last year.

Judge Lord Clark deferred sentence on Dare for background reports.