SENTENCING STATEMENTS
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HMA v Jason McKay
Mar 18, 2025
On sentencing, Lord Summers said:
"In this case you pled guilty being concerned in the supply of a class A drug.
In assessing the appropriate sentencing range I must have regard to the degree of your involvement in this drugs operation. I accept that your involvement was of a lesser nature. I also accept that the indictment is restricted to one day. On the day in question you guided Ian Alexander a drugs courier to Coul Park, Alness. The Crown Narrative states that there is no indication that you knew the amount or type of drugs involved.
On the other hand you have pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of a large quantity of Class A drugs. Their value is thought to be in the region of £210-300k. The cocaine weighed in at just under one kilogram. As you must appreciate these drugs are the cause of untold misery in society and require a heavy sentence.
I consider that the range for this offence is 4-7 years. I notice that for someone in a lesser role where the drugs are approximately 1 kg in weight the UK Sentencing Guidelines suggest a range of 5-7 years.
In selecting an appropriate sentence I notice that you have an abominable record of offending covering two decades. Most of these offences are at a low level and none as serious as this offence. I note that in 2016 you were convicted by a Sheriff and Jury in Perth of a breach of 4(3)(B) of MODA and were imprisoned for 22 months. That offence also involved a class A drug.
I also note that Mr Alexander who drove the car with the drugs received a five year sentence discounted by about 20% to three years 11 months. His Schedule of Convictions show that his previous sentence was in 2012. I consider you have a worse criminal record. On the other hand he had a marginally greater level of involvement in this offence.
In these circumstances I have weighed up the requirements of proportionality and the guidance offered by the Drugs Sentencing Guidelines and I consider that the headline sentence should be five years.
You have pled guilty by s76 letter and this usually entitles you to a one third discount in sentencing. However these discounts are designed to reflect the utilitarian benefits of early pleas. In this case however you were due to go to trial on 11 November 2024 and failed to appear at Inverness High Court. It was only after your apprehension that you pleaded by s 76 letter. In these circumstances a full discount is inappropriate since whatever benefits your plea today may have were substantially eroded by your conduct which caused a trial to be aborted in Inverness High Court. I consider that your reduction should be limited on that account.
Looking at matters in the round, I acknowledge that there has been some limited benefit in your plea and have decided that a sentence of 4 years and 6 months for your plea to the drugs offence.
You have pled guilty to the breach of s 102A (1) (A) – I do not consider that your plea has saved any time or offered any utilitarian advantage. Your record shows that have a habit of breaching court orders and as a result your failure to appear was entirely in character. I do not accept that Mr Guarino’s submissions this morning excuse your failure to appear. I shall sentence you to 6 months imprisonment for this and apportion one month to the bail aggravation, to run consecutively to the sentence under s 4(3).
The result is a sentence of five years which will take effect from 4 December 2024."