A scaffolder caught with £2.4 million-worth of cocaine on the M6 has been jailed.
Scott Richard Tobin, 33, was stopped by Cumbria police officers near Penrith, just before noon on Wednesday, November 5, as he drove a Mercedes northbound.
He was nervous, shaking and, when asked if there was anything of note in the vehicle, the colour drained from his face, an officer noted.
A cardboard box — opened but not sealed — was found in the boot. It contained 30 one-kilo blocks of relatively high purity cocaine.
A police drugs expert’s valuation suggested the criminal consignment could be worth between £630,000 and £720,000 wholesale, with a potential street value in the region of £2.4 million.
Tobin, of Holmlea Court, Glasgow, admitted cocaine possession with intent to supply and was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court this morning to eight years in prison.
He had no previous convictions, cautions, or warnings recorded against him.
The court heard he had fallen out with the tax man, running up a £20,000 debt with HMRC, and had agreed — for a £2,500 payment — to transport a package he suspected contained drugs from Liverpool to Glasgow.
“He is very remorseful. He wants to apologise to the court,” said Callum Morris, mitigating, stressing that the defendant was not a drug user.
Tobin was handed the jail term by Judge Michael Fanning, who accepted he had been candid, open and honest with a probation officer about his criminal conduct.
“This is a significant consignment. The harm would be significant if this drug had ended up on the streets — something which you readily appreciate,” said the judge.
“You went into this with your eyes wide open. You took a calculated risk.”
