DRUG baron Mark Richardson was jailed yesterday under tight security with police officers guarding the locked courtroom.
The 29-year-old was given six months for trying to flush a mobile phone down a toilet when cops swooped on his flat in a drug raid.
The case was heard in a closed court with officers posted on the door and the public barred from entry. It is believed undercover cops were inside the Edinburgh Sheriff Court building as part of the security operation.
It is unusual for such a hearing to be held behind closed doors.
Richardson, who amassed a fortune peddling cocaine, was convicted of obstructing officers on a drugs raid at his home in the city’s Brunstane area.
His arrest was made as police hit 22 addresses across Edinburgh in October 2015. Operation Amyloid seized £100,000 of heroin, £2000 of cannabis and £10,000 cash.
Neither the Crown nor police would comment on the closure of the courtroom.
A spokesman for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service said: “The court was closed at the sheriff’s discretion.”
Richardson served four years of a 10-year sentence after he was caught cutting cocaine in 2010.