Liverpool drug dealer found with £14,000 in Stirlingshire flat

More than £14,000 in cash was found in a Stirlingshire flat used for drug trafficking by a "penniless" Liverpudlian, a court has heard.

The High Court in Edinburgh was told police had received intelligence that Scott Yoxall had set up a large scale drugs supply network.

The 22-year-old pled guilty to being concerned in the supply of heroin between April 1 and August 9 last year.

Judge Lord Turnbull, deferred sentence until next month.

The court was told when Scott Yoxall was questioned by police he claimed he had no money at all and had not received benefits for the last year and a half.

But officers found bundles of cash along with thousands of pounds worth of heroin in a flat he used at Henderson Street, Bridge of Allan, in Stirlingshire.

Advocate depute Andrew Brown QC told the High Court in Edinburgh that Yoxall had a number of aliases including Sinbad.

He said: "Prior to the end of May last year Central Scotland police were in receipt of numerous intelligence reports that a male known as Sinbad had arrived in the Stirling area and had set up a large scale drugs supply network."

Yoxall was identified and put under surveillance and it was found he had leased the Bridge of Allan flat using the name James Dunne.

A search was carried out at the property in August last year and bags containing heroin were found in the bathroom and kitchen along with scales.

Police also recovered 14 bundles of cash, totalling £14,040, from drawers in the kitchen.

Mr Brown said: "A number of drug users in the area confirmed that Yoxall, whom they knew as Sinbad, had been supplying them at least twice weekly, often by taxi."

Yoxall was arrested in England and brought to Stirling for questioning and denied any knowledge of the flat in Henderson Street.

The court heard his DNA was found on toothbrushes and drugs packaging recovered at the property.

A co-accused Alan Hope, 53, also admitted being concerned in the supply of the drug between June 21 and July 5.

Yoxall was seen by a police surveillance team heading for a meeting with Hope at a bed and breakfast in the St Ninians area of Stirling.

Hope later met a man at a bus stop at Main Street, St Ninians, during a £100 deal for heroin.

Lord Turnbull, deferred sentence on the pair until next month at the High Court in Glasgow for the preparation of background reports and remanded them in custody.

The Crown has begun proceedings to seize any crime profits from Yoxall.