A DUNFERMLINE woman asked a 15-year-old girl to take methadone and provide fake urine samples for her.

Leanne Ward hoped to fool drug addiction services and social workers into thinking she had stopped taking heroin.

However, the girl started to become reliant on the methadone and told a friend, which led to the police being informed.

Ward, 28, of David Millar Place, appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.

She admitted that on various occasions between May 1 and August 31 last year, she culpably and recklessly provided a controlled drug, methadone, to a girl aged 15, with the intention that she would provide a urine sample and exposed her to the risk of harm from the drug.

Depute fiscal Sarah Lumsden said Ward had been referred to addiction services in January 2017 and was placed on a methadone prescription.

To comply with addiction services conditions, she had to provide urine samples to show she was not still taking heroin.

The depute said the young girl “felt sorry” for Ward and agreed to take part in the scam.

“The accused repeatedly asked her to do this and she did so,” she added.

In all, the girl provided seven samples. She was 15 at the time of the first one and then turned 16 as she continued to take the drug.

The depute went on: “This had an effect on her. She felt particularly tired and was becoming reliant on the methadone. After she consumed it, she would feel better.

“She wanted to stop taking it and told the accused.”

At the end of August last year, the girl told a friend what she had been doing and how she was feeling. The friend informed the social work department who in turn contacted the police.

Defence solicitor Elaine Buist said the motivation for her client had been to obtain clean samples so that she could gain access to her child.

Sheriff Charles MacNair said it had therefore been a crime against social work as well as addiction services.

He called for reports and commented: “This is clearly an extremely serious matter giving methadone to a girl who was 15. It will be very difficult to see an alternative to a custodial sentence for something as serious as this.”

Ward will be sentenced on October 15.