Former MSP's son in court on heroin charges

Published on Tuesday 12 June 2007 00:10

THE son of the former Solidarity MSP Rosemary Byrne appeared in court yesterday charged with serious drugs offences.

Sean Byrne, 38, is accused of possessing heroin and driving dangerously at excessive speed and failing to stop for police in Irvine, Ayrshire, and other roads on 1 June.

Byrne and his co-accused, John Hutchison, 26, are also charged with obstructing officers by throwing bags of cocaine from a car and swallowing a quantity of the Class A drug.

Both are further charged with possessing cocaine and having it with intent to supply.

Byrne faces three final charges of possessing cocaine, possessing with intent and being concerned in its supply at his home in Irvine, on 2 June.

He made no plea or declaration at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court and was remanded in custody, fully committed for trial.

Hutchison, also of Irvine, was freed on bail last week after making no plea. His case was continued for further investigation.

Beginning in 2003, Ms Byrne, then a Scottish Socialist party MSP, became one of the most vocal campaigners for the liberalisation of drug treatment in Scotland.

She argued that anti-drug policies should take a social and medical approach, rather than a criminal and enforcement one.

She went on to put down the Drug Rehabilitation Scotland Bill in parliament, which called for the limited use of heroin as a prescription drug on the NHS.

She later campaigned for the Executive to establish a drug-support centre in every town in Scotland.