An Erskine man accused of supplying a hallucinogenic drug to a tragic teenager who was later found dead has been ordered to spend 14 months behind bars.


Jack McNaught, 19, was alleged to have supplied the class-A drug to Owen MacDonald just hours before the 16-year-old’s body was discovered.


A major police investigation was launched after Owen was found dead on waste ground near Erskine’s Park Mains High School in the early hours of April 30 last year.


During the probe, police linked Owen’s death to the illness of another 16-year-old boy who was admitted to hospital after taking acid.


The details emerged when McNaught appeared at Paisley Sheriff Court last month to plead guilty to drug dealing.


He admitted being caught with cannabis he intended to supply to others and supplying acid tablets to the boy who was hospitalised and another teen after prosecutors abandoned claims he also supplied drugs to Owen.


McNaught first came to the attention of undercover police in March last year as he stood at a car near a bowling club in Erskine. In the car, officers found cannabis worth £220 under the driver’s seat.


Five weeks later, McNaught was dealing class-A drugs to two 16-year-old boys, who can’t be named for legal reasons.


Procurator fiscal depute Pamela Brady said three males went to his home in Johnshaven, Erskine, on April 29 last year.


She added: “In the early hours of April 30, a transaction has taken place whereby [two 16-year-olds] have purchased what is colloquially known as ‘acid tabs’ from Jack McNaught – a class-A drug.”


“Both males each handed £20 to Jack McNaught and in return each was given three of these acid tabs.”


The court was told that one of the boys was later taken to Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital after becoming unwell and was admitted to intensive care.


Around the same time that he was being treated in hospital, Owen was found dead by passers-by.


Mrs Brady said: “The post-mortem and toxicology result were unclear and the cause of death was recorded as ‘unascertained’ but there was a view after the investigation and examination that it had the hallmarks of a drug-related death.”


Defence solicitor Jonathan Manson said McNaught was a first offender with “a good job and a good future in front of him.”


He added: “He had no dealings with the other boy who was found deceased. He didn’t see that boy. I wish to make it quite clear he had no transaction with that particular boy.”


“This has caused him a significant amount of stress and anxiety.”


Sentence had been deferred for background reports and, when McNaught returned to the dock yesterday, he was handed a 14-month term behind bars.