A Scots lawyer who specialises in dealing with serious organised crime has been revealed to be a drug dealer.
Amanda Lothian, 65, was convicted of selling nearly £87,000 of ketamine from her own house in an Aberdeen suburb.
Police discovered the class B drugs during a raid on her house in Peterculter after a surveillance operation. The solicitor’s illicit activity came to light after a four-day trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
Jurors heard that her DNA was found on a bag containing ketamine that was discovered during the August 2020 raid. The former member of The Society of Advocates in Aberdeen, who specialises in organised crime, had two vacuum-packed bags of ketamine worth £71,620. A sniffer dog, named Buster, also found ketamine inside a wooden TV unit in Lothian’s house.
More drugs were seized from James Hanlon, who said he collected drugs from Lothian’s property. He was found to be in possession of more than £15,000 worth of ketamine.
Lothian said: “I certainly wasn’t selling ketamine. If I had known there was ketamine in the car, I would have locked the car or hidden (the drugs).”
She added: “I’m very angry with James – I’m absolutely furious.”
Lothian said the charges against her were “absurd”. Fiscal depute Rebecca Thompson said Lothian must have “incredibly poor luck” for her DNA to be found on the drugs that she claimed to know nothing about.
A jury found her guilty in less than an hour. She will be sentenced next month.
