A DRUG dealer and her husband who dumped the dead body of a friend next to a sewage works after he died in their house have been jailed.

Angela and Thomas Leckie found the body of Andrew Gillies in an upstairs bedroom of their home.

Mr Gillies is believed to have gone to a bedroom in the Leckies' home in Haddington  on his own before being found dead about 12 hours later.

The pair then put the body of 33-year-old Mr Gillies - known to friends as Andy - into a sleeping bag before shifting him into a Transit van.

His body was then left on wasteland near to the sewage works at the town's Amisfield and was discovered by a dog walker at about 6am on April 18 last year.

Today (Thursday), a sheriff slammed the married couple for dumping Mr Gillies' body like "fly tipping an old carpet" and told them: "Only a prison sentence is appropriate for both of you."

Angela Leckie, 39, and Thomas Leckie, 51, both previously pleaded guilty to defeating the ends of justice and attempting to defeat the ends of justice by moving Mr Gillies' body and abandoning it at Amisfield, Haddington, between April 16 and 18 last year.

READ MORE: Pair dump body of man who died in their home

Angela Leckie also admitted supplying heroin from her home on April 16, 2016, while Thomas Leckie's not guilty plea to stealing £100 from the dead man's bank account the following day was accepted by the Crown.

The court was told that Mr Gillies had gone to the Leckies' home and had bought three £10 bags of heroin before heading upstairs with the drugs and a syringe.

The pair said that they later found Mr Gillies slumped on the bed with the syringe nearby and put him into the recovery position before leaving him snoring on a bed.

They then said they left the property and returned later to find Mr Gillies had passed away.

At about 10pm on Sunday, April 17 the Leckies put his body into a sleeping bag and transported his body to the van by using a trolley.

The married couple, who have two children, were soon picked up after Mr Gillies' girlfriend reported to police that he was missing and he had gone to spend some time that weekend with the Leckies.

Solicitor Jennifer McEvinney, defending Thomas Leckie, said that her client was "deeply remorseful" about events that night and he had carried out "irrational and panic stricken actions".

Ms McEvinney added that, though his behaviour had been "morally reprehensible", he had been "genuinely scared" after discovering Mr Gillies' dead body in his bedroom.

Angela Leckie's brief Brian Gilfedder asked for a non-custodial sentence to be handed down to his client, stating she was "at her wits' end as to what will happen to her children".

Sheriff Norman McFadyen said: "Mr Gillies was a mother's son and was entitled to be treated with respect and dignity in death.

"Instead, you chose to treat his mortal remains with degradation and depravity and degraded his remains by disposing of his body in the same casual way you might fly tip an old carpet.

"I see no reason to distinguish between you regarding the most serious charge in this case."

Sheriff McFadyen jailed Thomas Leckie for 29 months and Angela Leckie for 27 months.