Falkirk crime: Stuffed drugs down trousers when police raided Bainsford flat

Barry Newman was seen holding a package in his hand before he turned and sprinted into his living room, a court heard.

Police officers followed him through the open front door and grabbed him by the arm to restrain him.

They found he had stuffed a plastic bag full of heroin down the waistband of his trousers, the High Court in Livingston was told.

Newman, 38, was arrested and charged with being concerned in the supply of the controlled Class ‘A’ drug diamorphine.

He pleaded guilty on Tuesday to committing the offence on various occasions between February 10 and 26, 2021 while acting with another person at his flat at Symington, Drive in Bainsford.

Wojciech Jajdelski, the advocate depute, confirmed that the Crown had accepted Newman’s not guilty pleas to five further charges of possessing Class ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ drugs.

He said intelligence had been received by police prior to the raid indicating that the accused was concerned in the supply of controlled drugs.

As a result, officers went to Newman’s address at 9.30pm on November 26 last year to execute a search warrant.

Mr Jajdelski said: “As police entered the block of flats and ascended the staircase the accused left his flat holding an item in his hand. On seeing the police officers the accused ran back into the flat leaving the door open.

“Police officers followed the accused into the living room and one of the police officers got hold of his right arm to restrain him while another removed the item from the waistband of his trousers.”

The item was found to be a plastic bag containing controlled drugs and Newman was arrested.

The advocate depute said 191.05 grammes of diamorphine had been recovered from the flat, along with drugs paraphernalia, including measuring scales, plastic bags and mobile phones with messages indicating the accused's involvement in drug dealing.

He listed some of Newman’s 63 previous convictions which included seven convictions for possession or supply of drugs – mainly diamorphine – between January 2006 and June 2018.

He revealed that the accused had been sentenced to five increasingly lengthy prison sentences for the offences and had been handed a restriction of liberty order and two drug treatment and testing orders by the courts.

Charles Ferguson, defending, claimed his client had become dependent on drugs as a result of being subjected to repeated abuse between the ages of four and nine.

He said: “He was first involved with drugs at the age of 13 and after that fell into a vicious cycle of addiction and conviction.

“In my submission it’s trauma which has affected his decision making and the defence intend to obtain a report from a psychologist who specialises in trauma to see what effect that has had on his decision making.”

He suggested that the psychologist’s report could inform any criminal justice report prepared by social workers before sentence.

Judge Lord Harrower agreed the suggested background reports were desirable and adjourned the case until January 2023 at Edinburgh High Court for sentencing.

Newman will remain in custody until then.