Hallglen drugs mule jailed after found on M6 with £180,000 haul

A drugs courier from Hallglen caught with an illegal haul worth around £180,000 has been jailed.

Derek Nairns (42) was stopped by police while speeding through road works on the M6 northbound at Junction 44, near Carlisle, just before noon on October 4.

Because Nairns appeared “anxious and nervous”, his Ford Focus was searched and this revealed a cardboard box in the boot which was “stuffed full” of illegal drugs.

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These comprised two packages containing 560g of high purity, uncut class A cocaine potentially worth up to £56,000 on the street; around 12kg of class B amphetamine in six large packages potentially worth £120,000; and almost 200g of cannabis in two bags which could have been worth around £1,260.

A personal use amount of cannabis was recovered from a Kinder egg container.

“The defendant was obviously arrested and interviewed,” prosecutor Charles Brown told Carlisle Crown Court.

“He gave a prepared statement in his interview and elaborated slightly on it. He went from Falkirk to Liverpool to collect the packages.

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“He had been approached by someone who promised that his gambling debt would be written off, if he performed the courier role and brought the drugs back. He stated he knew what he was doing and did it on his own for that motive.”

Nairns, of Cramond Court, Hallglen, appeared in court over a video link from custody. He admitted possessing cocaine, amphetamine and cannabis – all with intent to supply - and simple cannabis possession.

Karen Tunnacliffe, defending, said: “The defendant is remorseful for what he has done and can’t believe he was so foolish as to take this course of action.

“At the time he was under a considerable amount of stress having chased an amphetamine habit with a gambling habit.”

That meant he amassed a debt in excess of £3000.

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A family man with two adult children, he had worked in various occupations since leaving school, most recently as a scaffolder.

Jailing him for 31 months, Judge Nicholas Barker said: “What this is, by any standard, is a significant haul of drugs of various sorts. This was a significant delivery.”

He added: “You must have realised that to have that debt removed you were undertaking a significant exercise.”