A KILWINNING man has been fined after stuffing cocaine inside his belly button and sneaking it in to a nightclub.

Paul Lochrie, was caught with just over a gram of the Class A drug when he was stopped and searched by police outside Pitchers Nightclub in Irvine on June 8 this year.

Kilmarnock Sheriff Court was told police were tipped off that a customer of the club had been suspected of using cocaine.

Officers went inside to find the 27-year-old sitting alone at a table in the upstairs bar.

An officer approached Lochrie, of Evelyn Terrace, Kilwinning, and asked him to follow him outside where they searched him in the doorway of the club and found a small plastic wrap containing white powder secreted inside his belly button.

Lochrie, who works as a spray painter, was arrested and taken to Saltcoats Police Station where a further search of him was carried out, but noting further was found.

He pled guilty during an appearance at court on September 4 and appeared again on Thursday, September 18.

Before sentencing him Sheriff Murphy asked Lochrie if he had anything to say for himself and he replied: “Just that I am very sorry and it wont happen again. I’ve never been in trouble before so it won’t happen again.” He was fined £330.