A 65-year-old Scottish lawyer has been found guilty of dealing ketamine worth some £87,000.
Amanda Lothian was convicted by a jury after less than an hour of deliberation following a trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, the Press and Journal first reported.
Lothian denied having turned to selling drugs to pay for the large, historic house in which she lived: Lower Kennerty Mill in Peterculter.
Officers found drugs and some £4000 in cash at the property during a raid in August 2020, which took place after a surveillance operation.
Lothian was found to have two vacuum-packed bags of ketamine worth a total of £71,620, Scottish Legal News reported.
A man named James Hanlon was found to have another £15,000 worth of ketamine when police stopped his car. He told the court he had collected it from Lothian.
Hanlon was convicted of being concerned in the supply of ketamine at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in 2021.
In court, Lothian was questioned on why her DNA was found on bags containing the drugs if, as she claimed, she had no knowledge of them.
Lothian, who represented herself, said: “I certainly wasn’t selling ketamine.”
She added: “I just wouldn’t have left ketamine lying around like that. I’m very angry with James – I’m absolutely furious.”
Lothian is due to be sentenced next month.
