'Cannabis club' shop manager jailed
A "cannabis club" shop manager caught with over 2kg of the drug after a fire in his kitchen has been jailed for 20 months.
A search of Nikolas Brown's Dundee home uncovered £35,000 worth of cannabis along with MDMA and almost £10,000 in cash.
Brown, who ran the Dundee Cannabis Collective shop, previously campaigned for legalisation of the drug.
A court heard that firefighters were called to his flat on 1 September 2015.
Depute fiscal Eilidh Robertson told Dundee Sheriff Court: "Firefighters noticed cannabis and cash sitting in the open in the living room and called police.
"A full search was undertaken and quantities of cannabis were found throughout the property, as well as a quantity of MDMA and £9,865 in cash.
"There was a total of 2,354 grams of cannabis found, with a value ranging from £10,000 wholesale to £35,310 if sub-divided into street deals.
"The MDMA was 34g valued at up to £1,650 in street deals."
'Paying a price'
Brown, 24, of Dundee, pleaded guilty to two charges of being concerned in the supply of drugs.
Defence solicitor Sarah Murray said: "He is a young man who is a frequent user of cannabis - it is part of his every day life.
"He is now paying a price for that.
"He knows any views he may have about the legality of cannabis have no place in this court."
Sheriff Alastair Brown jailed Brown for 20 months - reduced from two-and-a-half years for his early plea.
He said: "This was not a typical commercial operation - but it was a commercial operation.
"It appears to have been done in response to his own drug debts.
"The difficulty is he went about it in a structured and commercial way that exposed other people to drug debts.
"Those who are concerned in the supply of any controlled drug must understand that the courts will treat their offences very seriously."