Man caught in car with £14k of drugs as a lamb ate chips in the back seat avoids jail

A man who was caught in a car with £14,000 of drugs, while a lamb ate from a bag of chips in the back seat, has avoided jail.

John McNeil, 56, was a passenger in Lindsey Sangster's vehicle which was stopped by police on the M74 in Glasgow on 22 April 2023.

Bags of heroin and cocaine were later recovered by a police dog underneath the front passenger seat of the Volkswagen Golf.

When quizzed about the animal - called Pablo - a sergeant claimed Sangster's partner McNeil told him she was a "trainee shepherdess." The duo were found guilty in September of possession of heroin and diamorphine with intent to supply.

The pair claimed they had tried to save the lamb - named after Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar - from a "dangerous position" on the middle of the road.

The court previously heard Pablo belonged to North Lanrigg Farm in Motherwell, which is owned by farmer Kirsty Mair.

A joint minute of agreed evidence said Mair had not given them permission to have the lamb.

Sgt Nick Twigg, 42, told jurors that he had reason to stop Sangster's car on the motorway, with Sangster, McNeil and another man in the vehicle.

An initial search found a glass pipe in the driver's door pocket while others were seized from McNeil and the man.

He said: "I asked Sangster where it [the lamb] came from and McNeil said that she was a trainee shepherdess."

Prosecutor Julianna Keenan asked the officer if there was evidence of this and he replied: "No, the lamb at the time was eating a bag of chips left on the back seat. There were no bottles."

A police dog named Billy later found £4,640 of cocaine and £10,050 of heroin under the front passenger seat within two bags.

The purity of the cocaine was stated to be no less than 76%.

In a joint minute of agreed evidence, Keenan said: "Officers were of the opinion that the circumstances of this case indicate the supply of cocaine and heroin due to the amount recovered being excessive for personal use."

Pablo was taken to a farm in Ayrshire where it was held for 48 to 72 hours before being returned to Mair.

A charge of resetting the lamb was dropped by the Crown mid-trial as there was "no reported theft" at the time.

McNeil told jurors in his evidence that he had experience with animals, having worked in the past with his father, who is a retired agricultural contractor.

He stated they came across Pablo on the middle of the road on the way home to Ayrshire after a journey to Edinburgh for the other man to purchase a car.

McNeil claimed that Pablo was "dehydrated" and appeared not have been fed for a couple of hours.

He told the court that the plan was to "take him back to the owner" as Pablo had identity markings on his ears.

'At the height of his addiction'

McNeil denied any knowledge of the drugs in the car, as did Sangster.

Jurors were told that Sangster was under the influence of drugs at the time when she was behind the wheel and pleaded guilty at separate proceedings.

She was disqualified from driving for 18 months and ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work.

Bronwyn Moore, defending McNeil at the sentencing, said her client was now a team leader at a construction company and that he was "at the height of his addiction" when arrested.

McNeil, of Fairlie, North Ayrshire, was back in the dock to be sentenced while Sangster, of Kilbirnie, did not appear and a warrant was granted for her arrest.

Sheriff Tony Kelly ordered McNeil to do 300 hours of unpaid work and tagged him for six months, meaning he must stay indoors between 20:00 and 05:00.

The sheriff said he had been advised the risk of McNeil offending again was low.

After the lamb was returned to Mair, she said he was in fine health and happy with "his new pet lamb pals".