AN Ardrossan woman who stored £1.5million of class A drugs in her home to try wipe out a gambling debt has been jailed for four years.

Josephine McKenzie was held after police raided her one-bedroom house on December 9, 2021.

Heroin with a potential value of £863,750 and cocaine which could total £663,000 was seized.

The 50 year-old was today sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow having earlier pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of both drugs between September 1 and December 9 2021.

Lord Fairley told her: "Drug abuse does not appear to be a feature of your own life.

"Your agreement to become involved to any extent is particularly surprising given the tragedy heroin appears to have brought other members of your family in the past.

"The quantities and purity levels suggest that the people, for whom you were storing for, were close to the point of importation.

"I note the main reason for allowing that to happen was a desire to pay off a gambling debt that you had accrued."

The judge cut the jail term from six years due to the guilty plea.

McKenzie - who had been on bail - smiled towards family after the sentence was passed. One shouted "love you" as McKenzie was taken to the cells.

Prosecutor BJ Gill earlier told how McKenzie was sleeping at the time of the raid.

Packages of heroin were discovered in a laundry basket while similar hauls of cocaine were found under a bed and in a carrier bag.

McKenzie said the drugs were "nothing to do with her partner" and that "it was her".

She was later quizzed by police after the swoop.

Mr Gill: "She said she had been struggling financially. She had been approached by a family friend, who stated he would pay her £200 for storing controlled drugs within her address.

"She believed that it was cocaine."

McKenzie went on to state "four different males" had since been to her home and passed her drugs in either bags or a box.

She said this had started in September 2021 and the last drop off was the day before the raid.

McKenzie admitted she had divided drugs and put them into bags.

Mr Gill: "She said she expected to receive £200 for each drop."

Text messages found on her phone also linked her to the crime.

The court heard how McKenzie had also felt "coerced" into storing the drugs.