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SPEED FREAK
William Paterson bolted in his Mercedes after realising cops were on his case
- Graham Mann
- Connor Gordon
A COCAINE courier who rammed into a cop car during a high speed chase has been jailed.
William Paterson bolted in his plush blue Mercedes after realising he was being followed by police who clocked him doing a near £1 million drug deal.
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The officers spotted Paterson taking possession of a huge cocaine haul with a whopping potential street value in Glasgow on March 1, last year.
The 35-year-old personal trainer sped off before dumping a box loaded with white powder near the city’s Hogganfield Loch.
Cops later found the dumped stash after Paterson drove headlong into the cop car in a bid to dodge justice.
But today at the High Court in Glasgow, Paterson, of Chryston, pleaded guilty to being involved in drug dealing linked to serious organised crime.
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The court heard desperate Paterson launched a black and yellow box of cocaine from his car window during the frantic pursuit around the north of the city.
Officers had earlier kept tabs on “courier” Paterson through Operation Windstriker which focused on an organised crime group based in the West of Scotland.
Sleuths looked on as Paterson was seen receiving a box from a man in the city’s Springboig before he drove off with the illicit stash.
They began following him but when they stopped at a set of traffic lights on Cumbernauld Road, Paterson became aware of their presence and put his foot down.
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Prosecutor Alan Parfery said: “Paterson became aware of the officers and drove off.
“He did a u-turn, entered the central reservation then the wrong side of the road and drove off at speed towards Glasgow.”
Cops chased him down with blue lights flashing but Paterson refused to stop and hit a cop car before zooming through red lights.
Officers saw him throwing a black phone out of the driver’s window before officers briefly lost sight of him.
But they were soon on his tail again before his getaway ended in Robroyston when Paterson performed another screeching u-turn then raced back towards the pursuing officers.
Paterson’s Mercedes struck the police vehicle which caused his airbags to inflate as well as damage to both cars.
He was nicked then taken to hospital and released without treatment with both officers treated for suspected whiplash and the cop car a write off.
Paterson’s car was searched and two envelopes containing £1,000 and £5,370 were recovered.
The black box Paterson was earlier spotted taking possession of was not found.
Officers retraced the route of the pursuit and recovered it from near Hogganfield Loch.
The court was shown a short video of the moment a forensic officer opened the container to reveal a hoard of packaged blocks which turned out to be the class A drug.
Mr Parfery said: “There were 90 blocks of cocaine in the box.
“Subdivided into one gram street deals, there is potential realisation of between £719,000 and £898,800.”
It was also stated that the purity of the blocks ranged between 81% and 83%.
Paterson’s home was searched and a MacBook as well as an iPhone were recovered. Both items were later destroyed by police.
Paterson arrived at the court with a holdall before pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine aggravated by a connection with serious organised crime.
It was revealed that his only previous convictions concern road traffic matters.
Sentence was deferred pending background reports until next month by Judge Lady Hood.
She said: “Due to the gravity and seriousness of the offence, it seems to me that bail is inappropriate to continue.
“This will be revoked and you will be remanded in custody.”
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Detective Superintendent Steven Elliott said : "This operation undoubtedly caused significant disruption to the local supply chain.
"We know that individuals and communities are deeply affected by the drugs trade and we will continue to take action against those involved.”
