Pete Bevington

19 January, 2007

THE TEENAGE son of two leading Shetland doctors has been given the chance to clear his name after pleading guilty to supplying cannabis, at Lerwick Sheriff Court yesterday (Thursday).

Joseph Maximilian Taylor Unsworth, aged 17, of Kergord House, Kergord, was one of three youngsters involved in a £90 dope deal in Lerwick last May.

Scott Liam Leask, 16, of Dales View, South Califf, Gott, approached his friend Unsworth asking him for drugs. Unsworth spoke to 18 year old Ross Gordon Lowe, of Kalliness, Weisdale, and together the pair took a taxi to a house, collected the cannabis resin and passed it to Leask.

Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said: "They all fully admitted their involvement with this when interviewed by the police, and in fairness this would not have been able to get to court but for their admission."

However when it initially came to court, Unsworth pleaded not guilty. Defence agent Donald Mackenzie said: "There was a collective failure on my client's part and that of his parents to grasp the reality of the situation that by his actions he became involved and concerned in the supply of drugs. No one in the family saw my client as a dealer."

Unsworth's father Jim is one of two consultant physician's at Lerwick's Gilbert Bain Hospital. His mother Dr Sarah Taylor is director of public health for both Shetland and Orkney.

Mr Mackenzie said Unsworth was a naïve 16 year old at the time of the offence, had just completed his exams and was "full of the joys of life" until his arrest, which had come as "a sharp wake up call".

A sixth year student at Lerwick's Anderson High School, he had been dropped as a "peer supporter" for first year students as a result of the offence. His prospects for a career in psychology would be affected by a drugs conviction, as would be his ability to visit relatives in the US, his agent said.

Sheriff Graeme Napier said he would give Unsworth, who made no profit from the drugs deal, the chance to wipe the slate clean if he came up with an imaginative idea for discouraging young people from using drugs.

"There's a real issue with people of your age who either blind themselves or simply fail to understand the consequences of getting involved in drugs, and perhaps there's a message to prevent them getting involved in drug use that's not getting across," the sheriff said.

Last May Sheriff Napier gave a local musician the chance to escape conviction for supplying drugs if he devised an anti drug message for young people.

Yesterday he followed the same line, deferring sentence for six months to allow Unsworth to come up with his own drug awareness campaign. If he impresses the sheriff, his case will be deferred again so he can help to get that message across, and if that works he will be given an absolute discharge.

Meanwhile Lowe, a fishmonger, was fined £350. Sentence on Leask, a computer student, was deferred for reports as the offence was committed while he was on probation.