A drug dealer who set up a cocaine warehouse with the help of a "besotted" employee in a local authority's legal department was today jailed for seven and a half years.
Claire Feely, who used her council job to steal someone's identity and rent a Glasgow flat used by then boyfriend Derek Morrison, was jailed for 14 months.
They were caught after a long under-cover operation by the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency which also netted 16 kilos of cocaine with a street price of £800,000.
Two others who were also snared as a result of the SCDEA's Operation Intrepid were also sent to prison today.
Judge Lord Kinclaven told them it was the duty of the court to mark the seriousness of their offences and deter others.
Earlier the court heard how Feely, 32, of Erskinefauld Road, Linwood, Paisley, had worked for Renfrewshire Council since leaving school.
She betrayed her bosses by "stealing" data to set up a bogus identity and rent a flat in Muirpark Street, Glasgow.
The flat, later described by police as "a cocaine warehouse" was sub-let to car dealer Morrison, 31, for an extra £150 a month, on top of the rent she was paying.
Feely "turned a blind eye" when she discovered Morrison, of Castlebank Street, Glasgow, was using it as a base for his drug dealing activities, the court heard.
Solicitor advocate Billy Lavelle described Feely as naive and easily led.
"She describes herself as besotted with Morrison. She put him on a pedestal," said the lawyer.
The court heard that police were tipped off and they began keeping a close watch on Morrison and his associates.
They finally pounced in August last year after tailing Morrison as he drove to addresses linked to student Nikolas Guit, 32, and scene hand David Burke, 35.
Lord Kinclaven was told that the meticulous search of Morrison's home had revealed plans to buy a flat in Bulgaria.
Morrison, Feely, Guit of, Shiela Street, Glasgow; and Burke of Mossvale Square, Craigend, Glasgow, all admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine at various addresses and for varying lengths of time.
Guit was jailed for 16 months for his one day involvement and Burke was jailed for four years.
Lawyers for the two said they were selling drugs to fund their own habits.
Guit moved in circles where people did not appreciate the pernicious nature of cocaine and had slipped from being a user to dealing, the court heard.
The £3370 he had when arrested was to share with friends celebrating a wedding.
Lord Kinclaven turned down a plea, backed by testimonials from colleagues and employers, not to jail first offender Feely.
"This case, like many others in these courts, illustrates the tragic personal and life changing consequences that affect those concerned in the supply of Class A drugs," said the judge.
Afterwards, Detective Chief Inspector Alan Cunningham of the SCDEA promised to tackle cocaine suppliers and their networks "to protect the people of Scotland from this insidious trade."
He added: "Recently dealers have been targeting more affluent areas of Scotland. We will dismantle these networks no matter where they set up in business."
Earlier this year the SCDEA launched an "ethical" anti-cocaine campaign at T in the Park, highlighting how children are mercilessly exploited and thousands of people murdered in the horrendous violence connected with the production of cocaine.
In Colombia, there are an average of 18,000 murders a year, 50 a day, associated with drug trafficking.
The country's vice-president Francisco Santos said: "Each gram of consumed cocaine is soaked with the blood of Colombians who have died as victims of landmines, displacement, terrorist acts, kidnappings and violence."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article