A drug trafficker who was caught with a haul of high purity cocaine worth more than £400,000 on the streets was jailed for 40 months today.

Mark Reid, 37, claimed that he was storing the four kilos of the Class A drug recovered from a house in Cumnock, in East Ayrshire, on behalf of others.

A judge told Reid at the High Court in Edinburgh that the quantity and value of the drugs seized were "significant".

Lord Armstrong said: "The court must take full and proper account of the widespread harm caused by the supply and abuse of controlled drugs."

He pointed out that the drugs seized were of a purity not less than 68 per cent and had a potential maximum value of £410,000.

Cumnock Chronicle: Edinburgh High Court.

Lord Armstrong said that although Reid has a record of criminal convictions none of it was for similar offending.

The judge said Reid was assessed as posing a moderate risk of re-offending and added: "I note your involvement in these matters resulted from your own consumption of illicit drugs."

He told Reid: "I am satisfied there is no appropriate alternative here to a custodial disposal."

Lord Armstrong said that if Reid had been convicted after a trial he would have faced a five-year jail term, but the sentence would be restricted to three years and four months imprisonment following his early guilty plea.

Reid, formerly of Forbes Avenue, Cumnock, had earlier admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine in July last year at an address in the town's Netherthird Road.

Defence counsel Janice Green said Reid had suffered from "adverse life experiences" both in childhood and adulthood.

She told the court: "He has generally suffered poor mental health in the last few years."

The defence counsel said this made him vulnerable to pressure he claimed he was put under to carry out a task over the drugs "in the expectation he would clear his own drug debt".

She said Reid knew little about the extent of the drugs operation and had no control or management role in it.