Man is spared jail after police found £14,000 of drugs under his seat and a lamb called Pablo eating chips

John McNeil, 56, of Fairlie, North Ayrshire, was convicted alongside Lindsey Sangster, 41, of possessing £4,640 of cocaine and £10,050 of heroin with intent to supply after police stopped their Volkswagen Golf on the M74 near Glasgow in April 2023. Sheriff Tony Kelly sentenced McNeil to 300 hours of unpaid work and an electronic tag for six months, citing the age of the case and a low risk of reoffending as grounds for keeping him out of prison.

Pablo — whose name was a nod to Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar — was munching chips from the back seat when officers searched the vehicle.

McNeil described Sangster as a 'trainee shepherdess' and said they had rescued the lamb from a dangerous position in the road; the court heard farmer Kirsty Mair never gave permission for them to take Pablo.

Sangster failed to appear for sentencing and a warrant has been issued for her arrest.