A DRUG DEALER took too much of his own heroin and was found unconscious in Dunfermline High Street.

Police arriving to assist Scott Paterson, who was involved in drug dealing in Lochore, found the rest of his heroin in a bag at his feet.

His solicitor said that Paterson, who had previously broken into the home of a police officer in Kirkcaldy, was "no master criminal". 

Dunfermline Sheriff Court also heard the hapless crook had been stabbed seven times over another drugs deal that went wrong.

When police cordoned off the crime scene in Lochore, a stash of heroin was discovered hidden in Kinder eggs.

Paterson, 30, described as a prisoner at Edinburgh, admitted that between October 25 and November 7 last year at High Street, Dunfermline; Lochleven Gardens, Lochore; and elsewhere, he was concerned in the supply of heroin.

He also admitted that on August 17 he broke into a house in Kirkcaldy and stole a handbag and its contents.

Depute fiscal Kyrsten Buist told the court that in the Kirkcaldy break-in, the woman had gone to bed and left her handbag in her conservatory.

At around 3am, Paterson had entered through a window which had been left open because of the humid conditions.

She woke up and heard him moving around the property then saw him trying to open the conservatory door to get away.

He was bare-chested and was using his tee-shirt to carry items.

As the woman chased him, Paterson shouted: “Dinnae!”

He managed to escape but a police dog picked up his scent and he was caught nearby.

He met the description given and had put his tee-shirt on inside out. He was able to tell police where they could recover the officer’s warrant card, from a rubbish bin.

In the Dunfermline incident, staff at Stephen’s the Bakers in High Street called the police when a man was seen lying in a close.

Found in the bag next to him were two wraps of heroin.

After the Lochore incident, police recovered more than 43 grams of heroin. This happened after Paterson had been stabbed seven times over a drugs dispute.

Defence solicitor Alexander Flett said: “He’s no master criminal. He was stabbed for not doing what he was told to do, rather than it being over a drugs debt.”

Of the Dunfermline incident, Mr Flett said: “He was preyed upon by others to hold a quantity of diamorphine. He had taken some for himself and it seems he was greedy and suffered what seems to have been an overdose. 

"He was found incapacitated in an alley.”

He added that his client had suffered from a “dreadful heroin problem" and that “he wouldn’t be the brains of any criminal operation”.

Sheriff Charles MacNair called for reports and Paterson will be sentenced on February 28.