A trainee chemical engineer who supplied friends with ecstasy pills that made them ill has been sentenced.

Kyle Stenhouse, 21, gave the illegal drugs to friends at a house in Westhill, Aberdeenshire, on December 28 last year.

He was given a community payback order at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on Wednesday and ordered to carry out 125 hours of unpaid work in the community as an alternative to a custodial sentence.

Five men were taken to hospital after taking the red tablets, known as MasterCards.

Stenhouse was vomiting in the back garden of the property when police arrived a short time later.

He admitted being concerned in the supply of the Class A drug when he appeared in court last month.

Fiscal depute Alan Townsend previously said the men had been drinking alcohol together before Stenhouse offered them the drugs.

He said: "They continued to drink alcohol within the locus and at that time the accused produced a bag of red MasterCard tablets.

"The accused offered these tablets to the witnesses, all of whom took them along with him."

Defence lawyer Charles Benzies said his client wanted to apologise to the families of the men affected.

Mr Benzies said Stenhouse had not intended to make a profit selling the drugs.

He was suspended from his job when the situation came to light but he is likely to continue an HNC in mechanical engineering next year, the court heard.