A MAN has pleaded guilty to having thousands of tablets of street valium in Bonhill.

John Murphy admitted being concerned in the supply of class C Etizolam and to having a pair of scissors in a public place.

Pleading guilty at Dumbarton Sheriff Court on November 23, the 53-year-old was said to have had a significant drug addiction that got him into debt with a dealer, leading to the offence.

The court was told police executed a search warrant around 7pm on June 24 at a property in Redburn. Nobody was home and officers found 106 white tablets in a men's jacket pocket in the living room.

As cops were leaving, Murphy was seen walking towards them and he was stopped.

A search found two bags of tablets, one with 2,430 and one with 2,505. The tablets were described in court as being worth about 50p each, amounting to thousands of pounds worth of the drug.

The search of Murphy also found a pair of black handled kitchen scissors.

Murphy's defence solicitor said he developed a problem with street valium and it became so bad he was taking 50 to 100 tablets a day.

Sheriff Maxwell Hendry noted Murphy had previously been put on a drug treatment and testing order (DTTO).

The solicitor said the 2012 order had been successful in getting him off heroin.

But, he said: "He got into debt with a dealer and was asked to hold some items for the dealer. He was not involved in anyway in its distribution."

Sheriff Hendry told Murphy, who was listed in court papers as a prisoner in Barlinnie: "I accept your record is spread out over many years, indeed decades."

He jailed Murphy for 12 months, backdated to August 10, for the drugs charge. Murphy was admonished for the scissors.