Jail for man who flushed heroin

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A man who said he stormed into a drug dealer's home and flushed heroin down a toilet has been jailed for two months.

Peter Drummond claimed he took the law into his own hands after hearing that his brother-in-law had been to John Nellies' flat to buy drugs.

He threatened to kill Nellies at the home in Blairgowrie before flushing away five bags of heroin on Sunday.

He later admitted to police that he should not have done it, but said that heroin dealers were ruining his family.

Drummond was reported to police by another addict who it was said turned up at the flat looking to buy heroin but was told to get out and sworn at by Drummond.

He immediately confessed to officers.

He told them: "Over the last six or seven months my whole family has been in hell. My brother-in-law is on smack and he is getting it from the people there.

"It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. I shouldn't have done it but these people are ruining my family by supplying heroin.

Jailing him for what he did is ridiculous. It is a ludicrous decision Thomas BrownFriend

"It is causing a family crisis and everyone is going through hell. Things have been so bad that I lost it and decided to try and stop the drug dealing going on.

"I know I have done wrong. I'm sorry. I know I went about things the wrong way, but things just got on top of me."

Solicitor Steve Lafferty, defending, asked for his client to have his punishment limited to a fine due to the "quite unusual" circumstances of the case.

However, Sheriff Robert McCreadie ignored the plea for mercy and said: "If you were concerned about matters you should contact the police, not enter a house and threaten to kill someone. You can't take matters into your own hands the way you did."

Drummond shook his head in disbelief as he was jailed for two months for breach of the peace.

Outside court, family friend Thomas Brown said: "Jailing him for what he did is ridiculous. It is a ludicrous decision.

"Heroin is killing the community and I know for a fact that it has been tearing Peter's family apart. He shouldn't have done what he did, but at the same time he was only trying to help his sister.

"I think what happened today is outrageous."