Humza Yousaf’s brother-in-law blew £800 in one day to feed his crack cocaine habit, a court heard yesterday.
Ramsay El Nakla, 37, was last week acquitted of extortion and drugs charges during a High Court trial.
He was cleared of all charges after prosecutors accepted his not guilty pleas and yesterday appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh as a prosecution witness.
El Nakla had been standing trial at the High Court in Edinburgh with co-accused Stephen Stewart, 52, Jennifer Souter, 39, and Victoria McGowan, 43.
The accused, all from the Dundee area, were alleged to have intimidated Ryan Munro at a flat in the city’s Morgan Street on January 9 and 10 last year and extorted money from him by threats.
Stewart, Souter and McGowan face a further charge of killing Mr Munro at the flat on January 10 last year. The court heard the cause of Mr Munro’s death was blunt force trauma and a fall from height.
Yesterday El Nakla told the court that in January last year he was taking crack cocaine. When asked by advocate depute Alex Prentice, KC, if the drug had taken over his life at that time, he replied: ‘Yes.’
He was asked how much it was costing him in December 2023 and January 2024, and he replied: ‘I spent £700, £800 in a day.’
The gas and electrical engineer explained that when he got paid he spent that sum but afterwards it would cost him an additional £10-£20 a day.
El Nakla, who said he has been clean of drugs for months, said that in January last year he sourced crack cocaine from Stewart and would go to the Morgan Street flat to buy the drug.
He said on January 9 he went to the flat and got crack cocaine passed to him through the letterbox while his 13-year-old son waited in the car.
El Nakla said he later gave a lift to Stewart and McGowan from the flat to another address in Dundee. He said: ‘They told me somebody had stolen £700.’
He said he was asked to go back to the Morgan Street address and ask Mr Munro if he had any money left.
He said that Mr Munro, who was previously unknown to him, appeared scared.
El Nakla told the court Mr Munro said he had not taken money, and he believed him, but transferred money into El Nakla’s account.
On Friday, Mr Prentice told judge Lady Drummond that El Nakla’s not guilty pleas were acceptable to the Crown.
This led to her formally acquitting him and telling the jury that he would be called as a prosecution witness. The trial continues.
