Man sentenced for £14k drugs found with lamb in car

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 3 Nov, 02:15 · Archive

A man avoided jail after £14,000 of heroin and cocaine was found in a car in which a lamb was eating chips.

John McNeil, 56, a passenger in Lindsey Sangster's Volkswagen Golf, was stopped by police on Glasgow's M74 motorway on the evening of 22 April 2023. Officers discovered bags of heroin and cocaine beneath the front passenger seat, recovered by a police dog. In the back seat sat a lamb named Pablo, eating from a bag of chips.

When questioned about the animal, McNeil told a sergeant that Sangster was a 'trainee shepherdess'. The pair claimed they had attempted to save the lamb from a 'dangerous position' on the middle of the road. The lamb, named after Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, belonged to North Lanrigg Farm in Motherwell, owned by farmer Kirsty Mair, who had not given them permission to have the animal.

McNeil and Sangster, 41, were found guilty in September at Glasgow Sheriff Court of possession of heroin and diamorphine with intent to supply. McNeil, from Fairlie, North Ayrshire, returned to court for sentencing. Sangster, from Kilbirnie, did not appear and a warrant was granted for her arrest.

Sheriff Tony Kelly sentenced McNeil to 300 hours of unpaid work and imposed a six-month electronic tag requiring him to remain indoors between 8pm and 5am. In passing sentence, the sheriff acknowledged McNeil's previous convictions and said the offences were 'grave enough to merit custody', but stepped back from imposing jail time having regard to the age of the matters and his assessed low risk of re-offending.

How it is being reported

• Man found in same car as lamb during £14,000 drugs bust avoids jailA man found in the same car as a lamb named Pablo who was eating a poke of chips in the back seat during a £14,000 drugs bust avoided jail today.The Herald · 2 Nov, 22:01
• Man caught with lamb eating chips in car during £14k Glasgow drugs bust in courtJohn McNeil avoided jail after £14,000 of heroin and cocaine was found in a car with lamb Pablo on Glasgow’s M74 on April 22, 2023; he was tagged.Glasgow Times · 2 Nov, 13:05
• Man caught in car with £14k of drugs as a lamb ate chips in the back seat avoids jailPolice officers found the animal in the back seat of John McNeil's car on the M74 in Glasgow.BBC Glasgow And West · 2 Nov, 13:05

In this story: John McNeil · Lindsey Sangster · Glasgow · M74 · North Lanrigg Farm · Glasgow Sheriff Court

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log