Drug dealer jailed over car crash

Bower was on a Christmas Eve cannabis run when he crashed

A drug dealer has been jailed for 14 months after falling asleep and crashing his car while transporting a cannabis haul worth £2,250.

Dane Bower, 22, from Aberdeen, crashed into the central reservation barrier on the A90 at Glencarse in Perthshire.

Perth Sheriff Court heard he was already disqualified from driving at the time and had no insurance.

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis noted the offence, last December, was the 14th time Bower had offended while on bail.

'Drug problem'

Bower admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis resin on the A90 between Perth and Dundee on 24 December and the motoring offences.

After crashing, he told police he had thrown a carrier bag with three nine ounce bars of cannabis resin into a field.

Bower told the officers: "I just fell asleep. I woke up when I hit something and the car was spinning about."

The court heard that Bower was a heroin addict.

Solicitor Michael Munro, defending, said: "He was in debt in Aberdeen. He was in a car going south with two others, and then he was handed the keys to this car.

"He was told to take the car and the drugs back north. He did assist the police with the drugs, because they may not have been found otherwise.

"He has had a drug problem for many years. He realises he needs to take steps to change his lifestyle."

Sheriff Foulis told Bower: "Having regard to your record and the circumstances of the offences, I consider a custodial sentence is inevitable."

Bower was also banned from driving for four years.