By Rachel Amery

Copyright scotsman

Almost 600 drug dealers have had their criminal cases dropped in the past three years, despite Scotland still grappling with a drug deaths crisis. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar questioned First Minister John Swinney on this, saying Scotland “will never get to grips with the drugs death emergency while he and the SNP are in charge”. In the past six months there have been 607 suspected drug deaths in Scotland, equating to around one death every six hours. Speaking at First Minister’s Questions, Mr Sarwar said: “Shamefully, 573 charges for drug dealing were dropped in the last three years because the case was time barred. “Hundreds simply walked free and evaded justice, not because they were found innocent but because of this government’s incompetence. “People selling poison to communities are being given the green light because John Swinney can’t run a court system that sends drug dealers to prison.” Read The Steamie – our dedicated politics newsletter Mr Swinney said this was due to the backlog in the court system following the coronavirus pandemic. He also disputed the claim that drug dealers are evading justice as Scotland’s prisons are “congested” because of so many inmates receiving long sentences for drug dealing and organised crime. This comes just a week after Justice Secretary Angela Constance announced around 440 more prisoners will be released early due to overcrowding. Mr Sarwar said: “There is no justification for hundreds of drug dealers walking free because of the incompetence of the SNP government that has lost control. “Six years after declaring an emergency, Scotland still leads Europe in drug deaths. “John Swinney has abandoned justice and recovery, so isn’t it the case that we will never get to grips with the drug death emergency while he and the SNP stay in charge?”