An easyJet flight to Scotland made an emergency landing this morning after the Captain fell ill while approaching Edinburgh.
24.05.2022 - 18:01 / dailyrecord.co.uk
An ex-soldier who survived a high-profile helicopter crash has been jailed for six years after police seized a £1m heroin haul.
Gary Cowan, 32, was caught driving back to Scotland on the M74 near Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire in June 2020.
He was in a van belonging to garage boss John Craig, 31, who was jailed for eight years after he helped organise the drug trafficking.
Both were today sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow.
They had been convicted in April of being concerned in the supply of heroin. Both had effectively blamed each other.
Cowan's lawyer told the court the ex-Royal Regiment of Scotland soldier continues to suffer the "trauma" of an Army helicopter accident in Catterick Garrison, Yorkshire in 2007 in which a close friend was killed.
Cowan, of Paisley, Renfrewshire, turned to crime during the first pandemic lockdown in June 2020.
Jurors heard how the eight kilogramme drug haul - some of which was of high purity - could fetch potentially in "excess" of £1m.
Cowan claimed he had been asked to drive to Liverpool to collect car parts by Porsche-driving Craig, who runs a garage in Airdrie, Lanarkshire.
He said he met a man in Merseyside and left him for 10 or 15 minutes with the van.
As he later returned north, up to 10 officers and three police cars swooped on Cowan on the M74.
The dad-of-five was then arrested after the drugs haul was found hidden in the van.
His lawyer Billy Lavelle asked him: "What was your thoughts sitting in the cell?"
Cowan: "I sat there most of the day thinking: 'What was happening?'. I was in shock."
Craig, of Toryglen, Glasgow, also gave evidence and insisted Cowan - who he knew from a car enthusiasts club - had asked for a loan of his works van.
He claimed to only be aware of any issue
An easyJet flight to Scotland made an emergency landing this morning after the Captain fell ill while approaching Edinburgh.
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