A man has avoided jail after being found in a car with £14,000 of drugs and a lamb named Pablo that was eating chips.
John McNeil, 56, was a passenger in Lindsey Sangster's Volkswagen Golf when it was stopped by police on the M74 in Glasgow on the evening of April 22, 2023.
Bags of heroin and cocaine were later recovered by a police dog underneath the front passenger seat of the car.
When questioned about the lamb on the back seat, McNeil is said to have told an officer that his then partner Sangster was a 'trainee shepherdess'.
McNeil said he had saved the lamb – named after the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar – from a 'dangerous position' in the middle of the road.
Sangster, 41, and McNeil were found guilty in September at Glasgow Sheriff Court of possession of heroin and cocaine with intent to supply. They had denied any knowledge of the drugs in the car
John McNeil was found guilty in September at Glasgow Sheriff Court of possession of heroin and diamorphine with intent to supply
When questioned about the lamb on the back seat, McNeil is said to have told an officer that his then partner Sangster was a 'trainee shepherdess'
McNeil, of Fairlie, Ayrshire, returned for sentencing on Monday. Sangster, of Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, did not appear and a warrant was granted for her arrest.
Ordering McNeil to do 300 hours of unpaid work and to be tagged for six months, Sheriff Tony Kelly said: 'I will step back from imposing custody having regard to the age of these matters, and there is nothing arising for criminal offences for you to be dealt with.'
The court previously heard that Pablo was from North Lanrigg Farm in Motherwell, Lanarkshire, which belongs to farmer Kirsty Mair.
A joint minute of agreed evidence said: 'Miss Mair did not give permission for them to have said lamb.'
Sergeant Nick Twigg, 42, told jurors that having stopped Sangster's car, 'there was a lamb found in the back of the car. I asked Sangster where it came from and McNeil said that she was a trainee shepherdess'.
The witness was asked if there was evidence of this and he replied: 'No, the lamb at the time was eating a bag of chips left on the back seat. There were no bottles.'
Pablo has been returned to Miss Mair and is said to be 'fine'.
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