The sheriff said there was almost no heroin on the streets of the city when he first came to Dundee almost 14 years ago.

“Now there is almost no street in Dundee that has no heroin and a lot of authorities have to take responsibility for that state of affairs.

“It is a devastating drug,” he continued.

“It is so desperately addictive that once you’re hooked on it you will say anything to get back out onto the streets so you can get your next fix and it’s as simple as that.”

The sheriff spoke out as he sentenced 22-year-old Linda Anderson to three months in prison when she appeared before him for breaching two Drug Treatment and Testing Orders, imposed for offences of dishonesty, and three Restriction of Liberty Orders, imposed for breaches of bail.

He admonished Anderson, of South Road, for stealing groceries from Tesco Extra, Kingsway Retail Park, on April 2, a charge she had admitted.

Anderson had been remanded in custody to await sentence and the sheriff expressed his gratitude to staff at Perth and Cornton Vale prisons for their efforts in detoxifying people in custody.

“You are now in a state of detoxification, chemically and physically,” he told Anderson.

“Psychologically is the big problem because it’s still in your head and how you sort that out remains to be seen.

“My difficulty is that that is not my function.

“My function at the end of the day is to punish people who commit crime.”

Sheriff Davidson said the court had previously made efforts to help Anderson without success.

Urging her to contact organisations which could offer support on her release, he went on, “You have to leave here today knowing that if you re-offend when you come out of prison you are going back.

“Most of all, you should think who you are going to associate with when you get out.

“If you pick the wrong people, you will be back on a downward spiral.”

Warning of the dire consequences of continued heroin addiction, Sheriff Davidson added, “There are a lot of people who should be 10 or 20 years older than you who don’t turn up in this court any more because they are no longer with us and that’s entirely down to heroin.”