A HILLFOOTS man who stored more than £12,000 worth of drugs in his fridge-freezer was jailed for a year last week.

Peter Kerr, 67, a retired trucker, was "pressured" into keeping the drugs, it was claimed at Falkirk Sheriff Court.

But police who raided his home in Alva also found several sets of scales, quantities of small plastic snap bags, and "multiple bags containing money", the court heard.

Prosecutor Alex Kirk said: "Following intelligence received by the police, a search warrant was granted and police attended at about 11.25am.

"The house was insecure and they entered and found the accused in his bed.

"A search was carried out and a bag of white substance which was subsequently analysed and found to be amphetamine weighing 1,252 grammes was recovered from the top shelf of the freezer."

Ms Kirk said if the amphetamine seized had been sold in on-gramme deals, its potential street value would have been £12,520.

The cash found added up to more than £3,490.

Kerr, a father of three, of Craighorn Road, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of amphetamine at his home on May 7, 2019.

Solicitor David Cranston, defending, said Kerr, who lived on a state pension, had offended in the past, though not against the Misuse of Drugs Act.

He said: "Men attended at his door with the amphetamine and told him to store it in his freezer.

"I think the reason he was selected for this job was that his previous pro-criminal lifestyle would probably make him an ideal candidate for the task.

"It meant he was not likely to go to the police."

Imposing the one-year jail term, Sheriff Alastair Brown also ordered that the money seized should be confiscated.

He told Kerr: "I'm well aware of the difficulties faced by somebody who gets the kind of approach which you had, but the appeal court has made it absolutely clear that those who are concerned in the supply of controlled drugs, even if they are providing a safe house under duress, can expect to go to prison.

"Nothing that has been said on your behalf takes this out of the ordinary run of cases."

Frail Kerr nodded when sentence was pronounced, but shook visibly as guards led him down the steps from the dock to the cells below.