A COCAINE cowboy who raised the alarm on coronavirus testing fears in prison will remain in custody as he awaits firearms allegations after being busted with the Class A product and 111 pills in Kilwinning.

George McKnight, 29, appeared from custody to face sentencing for drug possession offences at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court last week [Thursday, July 29] – admitting to possessing Class A cocaine, Class B Methylphenidate and Class C Etizilam.

The Procurator Fiscal told the court McKnight was present during a police search of his home in Cambusdoon Place – when officers found 7.3g of cocaine and 111 tablets in total on November 13 last year .

When the sheriff questioned why McKnight was being held in custody, his defence solicitor told the court his client was remanded on “separate firearms allegations”, which was “identified as a potential high court case.”

For his guilty pleas to drug possession, the sheriff fined him £250 in total – with him given the option of 14 days in custody if no time to pay.

McKnight was returned to custody following the hearing to face further charges at a later date.

We previously reported McKnight was remanded in custody when he appeared on Thursday, December 17, 2020, after his arrest for alleged involvement in a drive-by shooting in Hawthorn Crescent, Beith.

McKnight entered no plea to two charges of assault, an allegation of robbery, possessing a firearm with intent to injure and a charge of carrying a firearm with criminal intent.

And last month, we reported how accused McKnight claims he was only offered one COVID test since December with prisoners forced to share a cell with others who have not been tested or quarantined before their arrival at the prison.

He said: “I have been here for seven months and I have only been tested for COVID once. It took two weeks to get the result back.

“We are now confined to our rooms and only allowed outside for one hour, so we can’t get fresh air.

“Because there is a backup in the court due to COVID, they are doubling up the rooms, so there are people brought in off the street, you can be doubled up with them and they haven’t been tested so we don’t know if we or they have COVID.”

He added: “We are all at risk of getting COVID and it spreading through the jail with no fresh air circulating.”