Man jailed over drugs in Aberdeenshire woods

A man caught moving heroin worth almost £50,000 in a bid to pay off his own drug debts has been jailed.

Liam Bickerstaff, 23, from Liverpool, was caught by police in Aberdeenshire after he was asked to move the drugs to woodland to reduce cannabis debts.

Bickerstaff admitted being concerned in drug supply in June 2009.

He was jailed for three and a half years at the High Court in Edinburgh. Lord Emslie said: "It is pretty clear you were taking a calculated risk."

Defence solicitor-advocate Iain Paterson said of the seizure in Banchory-Devenick: "The intention was for him to collect drugs after contacting an individual in the Aberdeen area and to stash them in a wooded area.

"He was told to tie a ribbon or something similar round a tree to mark where he left the drugs.

"It was not a situation where he was bringing drugs from Liverpool."