Prison for Rugby man who supplied high-purity heroin from family home

A Rugby man who supplied supply high purity heroin from his home to other addicts has been jailed for three years.

Scott McGreggor (37) of Calvestone Road, Rugby, pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to possessing enough heroin for more than 80 street deals.

The court heard that in December a man who had contacted McGregor was met in a park near to Calvestone Road by McGreggor’s mother, and a drug exchange took place.

Police officers who saw the exchange then saw McGreggor’s mother, who has pleaded guilty in the magistrates’ court to supplying a single wrap, heading towards his home.

She was stopped, and on her she was found to have the £10 note she was said to have been paid for the wrap she supplied.

When officers went into the house they found McGreggor in the kitchen with a bag in his hand from which some brown powder spilled out.

In the kitchen the police found 8.4 grams of heroin of a higher than normal level of purity, which it was said would be enough to make 67 £10 street deals.

There were also nine prepared wraps of the same 76% purity, as well as a further 1.35 grams wrapped in greaseproof paper which could have made a further 11 deals.

Also recovered from the kitchen was a set of electronic scales, pieces of foil, used needles and citric acid which showed there had been drug-taking in the kitchen.

And on a phone the police found 48 messages relating to drugs, and although the majority were incoming messages offering drugs to McGreggor, there were some from him offering to supply drugs.

He was a drug-user himself, and there was reference in a pre-sentence report to him selling to clear a drug debt.

David Everett, defending, said McGreggor had lived ‘in a rough area of Rugby where drugs were rife,’ and he had begun using class A drugs as a teenager.

Between 2008 and 2017 he had just two convictions, one drink-related and one for possessing drugs, which coincided with him having a job and being able to provide for his family.

But in late 2016 or early 2017 McGreggor, who is married with four children, lost his job and got into debt for his drugs.

“He was offered an alternative, and it was one he did not feel he could resist, and that was to supply drugs. He was simply dealing with what he was given.”

Mr Everett added that McGreggor, who believed the heroin was safely kept away from the children, had now started Methadone treatment again to tackle his addiction.

Jailing him, Judge Andrew Lockhart QC told McGreggor: “You are a man in your middle years.

"You have a very poor record, 29 convictions for 64 offences. You managed to sort your life out and put it into some sort of order, but you are still using heroin.

“In December 2019, in order that you might fund your habit, you descended to being in possession of drugs so you could provide them to another.

“You were at home, and when people wanted drugs from you, you supplied them.

"That is a serious matter, made more serious in your case because it was done from the family home.

“Drugs were lying about in that home where there were children.

"If a child had gone into a cupboard and put their finger into a bag and licked it, there could have been terrible consequences.”