A man has avoided jail after being caught with £14,000 worth of cocaine and heroin while a lamb named Pablo ate chips in the back of the car. John McNeil, 56, was a passenger in a Volkswagen Golf driven by Lindsey Sangster when police stopped the vehicle on the M74 motorway near Glasgow on April 22, 2023.
During the stop, officers discovered a glass pipe in the driver's door pocket. A subsequent search by a police dog revealed bags containing £4,640 of cocaine and £10,050 of heroin hidden under the front passenger seat. The cocaine had a purity of at least 76 percent.
McNeil and Sangster claimed they had found the lamb, named Pablo after Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, in a "dangerous position" on the road and were attempting to rescue it. McNeil, who has past experience with farm animals, told jurors the lamb appeared dehydrated and that their intention was to return it to its owner, noting it had identification markings on its ears. However, police were not given evidence to support the 'trainee shepherdess' claim McNeil made to officers, particularly as the lamb was observed eating chips from a bag on the back seat.
The lamb belonged to North Lanrigg Farm in Motherwell but its owner, Kirsty Mair, had not given the pair permission to have it. A charge of resetting the lamb was dropped during the trial due to a lack of reported theft at the time.
McNeil and Sangster were found guilty of possession of cocaine and diamorphine with intent to supply. Sangster, who was also found to be under the influence of drugs at the time of the stop, pleaded guilty at separate proceedings. She received an 18-month driving ban and was ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.
McNeil was sentenced to 300 hours of unpaid work and a six-month tagging order, confining him to his home between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. The sheriff noted that the risk of McNeil re-offending was assessed as low. His defense stated that he was at the "height of his addiction" when arrested but is now employed as a team leader at a construction company.