Drug menace off the streets

ONE of Edinburgh's most notorious and feared gangsters is finally behind bars today after being convicted of running a heroin-dealing operation from Craigmillar.

• George Buchanan

George "Dode" Buchanan, who has long been among the force's biggest targets, with a drug-dealing career dating back three decades, now faces a lengthy prison sentence.

The 54-year-old, who is the father of Dunfermline footballer Liam, was convicted yesterday by a jury who had been shown video footage of co-accused Robert Gilroy reluctantly naming him as the ringleader of the drug peddling business. Gilroy's defence counsel said there were now grave concerns for his safety.

A police source said: "George Buchanan has been one of the city's biggest dealers for a long time. He's had some lucky escapes and he seemed to think he couldn't be caught. He's an arrogant man who preys on the weak, a violent bully.

"Bringing him down has been a top police priority for some time. Another menace has been taken off the streets."

Detectives were able to swoop on the former bodybuilder following a lucky break when Gilroy's estranged wife went to police claiming she had been threatened by her husband over her alleged new lover. As well as describing the alleged threats, she gave up details of Gilroy's drug-dealing activities alongside a man called "Dode".

Her information enabled officers to raid 50-year-old Gilroy's home in Castleview Avenue and find heroin worth up to 143,000 hidden under the floorboards.

During a police interview, Gilroy told the officers he would need to be given a new identity if he named his boss, telling them: "This guy is big."

Days later, officers raided the nearby home of Buchanan's elderly parents, where cash contaminated with traces of heroin was found in the hood of a fur coat.

Gilroy and his wife, Lesley, have been placed into the witness protection programme. Both were guarded by a team of uniformed and undercover officers during the trial.

Buchanan has been a top target for police since he was acquitted on heroin-trafficking charges in 2004. Despite being cleared, he was successfully pursued for 200,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Intelligence suggested he remained a major player in organised crime in the Capital and enjoyed contacts with gangsters in Glasgow to source drugs.

His downfall began when he seized upon long-time friend Gilroy, a former heroin addict currently on a methadone programme, as a fresh outlet for supplying drugs.

In financial difficulties and down on his luck, vulnerable Gilroy was used by Buchanan to store and sell heroin from his flat.

Gilroy's estranged wife and mother of his three children, Lesley Gilroy, had met "Dode" on three or four occasions while visiting Gilroy, and her husband had bragged of his money-making enterprise and shown her pouches of brown and white powder hidden beneath the floorboards.

Her children, aged 18, 12 and ten, also told her about the drug dealing they witnessed during their own visits, but Mrs Gilroy remained quiet out of misplaced loyalty.

However, the friendly terms between the couple deteriorated on June 24 last year when she said she received a number of abusive texts and threats from Gilroy.

Upset and angry while speaking to police, Mrs Gilroy gave details on her husband's crimes and the involvement of his friend "Dode".

Aware of the significance of the new information, the officers alerted the force's Serious and Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), which sought warrants overnight.

The following day, a SOCU team descended on Gilroy's home and a search under floorboards recovered 1.432kg of heroin, an amount which could realise 143,200 if sold in typical "tenner" bags. An imitation firearm and a bow and arrows were also seized.

Gilroy was taken into custody and denied the cache of heroin belonged to him. A detective told him they had intelligence that the drugs belonged to Buchanan, asking him if he would have touched the drugs. Frightened for his life, Gilroy could only nod.

Warrants were obtained to search the home of Buchanan's parents, who lived just doors away from Gilroy. A box room, where Buchanan would often stay, was examined and 2600 was found in the hood of a coat. Tests using a mass spectrometer later found the banknotes were contaminated with heroin.

Buchanan was brought in for interview, answering only "no comment" during his interrogation before being arrested and charged.

Accompanied by his supporters, Buchanan was arrogantly confident he would beat the charges again, and pleaded not guilty when the trial got under way last Tuesday.

He took the stand in his own defence, denying the prosecutor's charge that he was a drug dealer who preyed on the weak. Instead, he claimed he was unaware Gilroy was involved in drug running.

But a jury found him guilty by a majority verdict of being concerned in the supply of heroin between February 1 and June 25 last year.

Gilroy had earlier changed his plea to guilty, and admitted being concerned in the supply of the drug between March and June last year.

Defence counsel Ronnie Renucci, for Gilroy, asked the judge to continue bail for Gilroy, who the court heard was "effectively in protective custody", ahead of sentencing. He added: "There remain grave concerns for his safety."

Lord Kinclaven ordered Gilroy be kept in prison ahead of his sentencing next month. Sentencing on Buchanan was also deferred until May 23.

Following yesterday's verdict, a police spokeswoman said it sent a "strong message" to anyone involved in serious and organised crime. "George Buchanan was involved in the supply of a significant amount of heroin, which brings violence, criminality and misery to communities and this kind of activity will not be tolerated."

A life of crime

GEORGE Buchanan has a criminal history dating back to at least 1974 when he was locked up as a teenager for attempted murder while a member of the Niddrie Young Terror gang.

He was jailed for 12 years in 1987 and served eight of them for his involvement in the theft of 2 million of pharmaceutical diamorphine - or heroin - from the MacFarlan Smith factory in Gorgie.

Buchanan and his cohorts acquired the diamorphine through a cleaner working at the plant - the only factory in Europe licensed to produce the drug - and went on to put much of the haul on the streets of the Capital.

He was brought to court again in 2004 on heroin-trafficking charges after police found 90,000 stashed in the loft of his family home in Craigmillar.

After walking free on a not-proven verdict, prosecutors decided to pursue him financially, and in January 2008 he was ordered to hand over 200,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Buchanan, who is the father of Dunfermline Athletic footballer Liam Buchanan, was ordered to relinquish his fleet of expensive vehicles, including a Range Rover, a Mercedes, a Mini Cooper and a Ford Focus, and surrender his share of a 325,000 home in Gilberstoun, Brunstane, which he shared with wife, Marie.

Following a series of hearings at the Court of Session, Lord Penrose described Buchanan as a "significant player in the illicit drugs trade".

The judge added: "Mr Buchanan's income from legitimate sources was wholly insufficient to finance any but a basic lifestyle. He was on benefits at all times when not in prison."

Investigators from the Civil Recovery Unit had sought to seize as much as 400,000 from Buchanan, who claimed that much of the cash targeted by investigators came from gifts from family members, as well as rent from students lodging at their family home.

In December 2009, he became the first criminal in Scotland to be made bankrupt after failing to pay the cost of bringing him to court.

After winning the two-year fight for 200,000, prosecutors hit Buchanan with a 45,000 bill for the legal battle over his assets.

A court declared him "either unable or unwilling" to pay the costs and he was made bankrupt.