A DAD has been jailed for three and a half years after being caught with psychoactive drugs stashed under loft insulation.

Colin Stewart, 53, was detained by police in November 2016 in relation to another matter when he admitted being in possession of what he told them was a “legal high”.

He was carrying 20 packets of a psychoactive substance - Exodus Damnation - and cash.

A search of his home lead to more than 7,500 packets of the psychoactive substance, worth more than £100,000, with the majority hidden under loft insulation.

He was found guilty earlier this year at Glasgow Sheriff Court of possessing a psychoactive substance with intent to supply, and possessing cocaine.

Sheriff Alan MacKenzie jailed Stewart, of Knightswood for three and a half years for his crimes.

The former businessman's Ukranian wife wasn't with him when he was sentenced although it was heard she has returned to her native country and relies on him financially.

Proceeds of Crime proceedings have been started against Stewart and will be dealt with at a later date.

The trial heard he and Mohammed Shafique, 56, sold legal highs from Amber Italian furniture shop in Glasgow’s Barras market before they were outlawed in May 2016.

Cash and powder was found but no charges were brought.

After police swooped on Stewart in November that year, a raid on his home found thousands of one and three-gram wraps of the substance under insulation in his loft, weighing more than 10kg, and beneath a wardrobe in his daughter’s old bedroom.

Two shopping bags each containing 30 one-gram foil wraps of Exodus were found in his car.

He had 20 one-gram deals on him when he was detained and another 17 were found in the pocket of a leather jacket in the house.

The total street value of the drugs was £102,370.

Cocaine worth £225 was also found in the jacket.

They also found a mixture of currencies including Sterling, US Dollars and Ukrainian Hyrvnia.

Stewart said the Exodus Damnation was for personal use as he took eight grams a day to ease leg pain.

But in evidence he claimed three unexpected deliveries of the drug were made to the shop just before the ban.

He said Shafique "didn’t know what to do with it", so he said he would put it in his hot tub at his house.

Stewart said: "I put it in my back garden until we figured out what we were going to do with it. I was probably stupid to have it in the house.”

The court was told Stewart has businesses in Ukraine including a dating agency, hotel and a shop for Botox and tattoos.

Defence counsel Allan Macleod said Stewart is “very concerned about how his wife and daughter will cope without his support."

He added that his client “has gone from being a fairly successful businessman to being destitute.”