Man given unpaid work after drugs found in child's pocket at nursery

A man has been ordered to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work after a toddler was found with two packets of drugs in her pockets at nursery.

George Robertson's home was raided by police after staff at the nursery in Glasgow's Southside found diazepam and cocaine in the two-year-old's jacket in May last year.

Glasgow Sheriff Court heard that a six-month-old baby in his care was also found to have nappy rash, scabs and dry skin on her body and "friction burn" in April 2025.

Robertson, 37, of Paisley, Renfrewshire, was also placed under a 12-month supervision order after admitting two charges of wilfully exposing the children in a manner to cause them unnecessary suffering or injury to health.

The court heard how Robertson was caring for the toddler when she was dropped off at the nursery on 27 May 2025.

A member of staff went to give the child a dummy, when a small bag of white powder fell out of her jacket.

A separate packet of cocaine was also discovered in the jacket and police were contacted.

Officers who attended later said they smelled traces of cannabis on the child's bag.

Police attended Robertson's home for a search of the property and found it to be clean and tidy, but with little food on the premises and no electricity.

Robertson later told officers he did not take diazepam and had never found drugs in the jacket before, but that another "individual" who had contact with the child may have taken the drug.

The court was also told a baby in Robertson's care had been taken to the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow after another person found evidence of friction burn on her body.

The baby was found to have a number of issues, including dirty nails, quite long nails, severe nappy rash with no evidence of treatment for it and dry skin and scabs.

Robertson's lawyer told the court he acknowledged he should have checked the child's jacket as he knew about the other individual's drug problems.

Sheriff Anna Reid said the offences were "extremely serious" and that staff were fortunate they found the substances.

She said she was satisfied with community disposal as an alternative to custody.