Wheelchair-using drug dealer caught by his own CCTV system
0 Comments | Herald, The; Glasgow (UK), Jun 29, 2010 | by WILMA RILEY
A WHEELCHAIR-using drug dealer who was convicted by evidence from his own CCTV cameras has been jailed for 11 years and two months.
Garage boss John James, 48, whose spinal cord was severed after he was shot by a rival nine years ago, was seen on six occasions involved in drugs trans-actions on the tapes.
His co-accused Martin Dickson, 27, who was also captured on CCTV was sentenced to five years and two months.
The footage, seized by police during a raid at JJ Autos in Wishaw, on September 11, 2008, was played to a jury at the High Court in Glasgow yesterday.
A kilo of heroin with a potential street value of pound(s)70,000 was found in the garage along with a small quantity of cocaine.
They also found weapons in the garage. Hidden behind a plasterboard wall they dis- covered a sawn-off shotgun with part of the brickwork drilled out to hold it in place. Under James’s desk was a loaded crossbow.
James also had pound(s)2000 in cash in his trouser pockets when police searched him.
James, of Moorfoot Drive, Wishaw, was convicted after trial of being concerned in the supply of cocaine and heroin between September 1 and 11, 2008, and possessing without lawful authority the crossbow and gun.
Dickson, of Gateside Road, Wishaw, was convicted of being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine.
Both men denied all the charges against them .
Advocate depute Jonathan Brodie, prosecuting, told the court that Dickson has previously served a nine-month sentence for drug dealing. James has previous drug possession charges, but had never served a jail sentence. A confiscation order was served on James.
Advocate Tony Graham, defending James, asked temporary Judge John Beckett, to take James’s disability into consideration.
He said: “The Scottish Prison Service have difficulty accommodating him and difficulty in accommodating a proper health and hygiene regime.”
Judge Beckett acknowledged James’s disability but told him: “You require to be punished for what you have done.”
Before sentencing, he told Dickson that he was knowingly involved in selling drugs and said: “The public must be protected from you.”
James’s sentencing was delayed after he and reliance officers became stuck in a lift in the High Court building.
Efforts to transport James from cells in the basement to ground- level courts were unsuccessful and the case had to be moved to the only basement level court room.
In 2006 the Crown raided James’s home in Wishaw and seized almost pound(s)20,000 in cash, heroin and cannabis.
During a civil confiscation action James managed to get pound(s)6000 of the cash refunded claiming the money was donated by friends to pay for a trip to China for stem-cell treatment.
At the time a police source said: “It’s a joke
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