Two drug couriers who smuggled cocaine to the Isle of Man hidden inside their bodies have each been handed six-year jail terms.

Stephen Parkhill, 37, and Lennon Stagg, 25, wrapped packages of the class A drug in clingfilm and swallowed them before travelling to the island.

They had made a last-minute booking as foot passengers on the Manxman sailing on Monday December 29 last year, the Court of General Gaol Delivery heard.

Prosecutor Hazel Carroon said police officers conducting routine checks at the Sea Terminal stopped the pair when they disembarked from the ferry at around 5.45pm, suspecting they were concealing controlled drugs.

There were inconsistencies in their travelling arrangements and where they were planning to stay - Parkhill said he was here on holiday to see family but neither could say where they were staying and they had not booked any return travel.

Both defendants were taken to Noble’s Hospital where they subsequently produced four packages of cocaine wrapped in clingfilm from their bodies.

Parkhill’s packages contained a total of 42.7g of cocaine with street value of £4,270 while those that had been hidden in Stagg’s body contained 63.1g of the class A drug with a street value of £6,310.

Checks of their mobile phone messages showed the pair planning the trip, one saying ‘Make sure it’s wrapped good’ and another saying: ‘Can’t wait - here we go Isle of Man, baby’.

Both men pleaded guilty as a joint enterprise to the production of cocaine and possession of the drug with intent to supply.

Defence advocate Paul Glover, representing Parkhill, said his client had lived a chaotic lifestyle before coming to the island - he had a history of substance abuse and his mental health had deteriorated.

‘This doesn’t appear to be the most sophisticated joint venture,’ Mr Glover said.

David Clegg, representing Stagg, said his client had also come from a chaotic background, having been taken into care at the age of seven and left full-time education at 14.

He revealed that days before the trip to the Isle of Man, Stagg had woken up to find his mother dead in bed in the same room as him. ‘His world fell apart around him,’ he told the court.

The court heard there was no indication of a third party involved in the drug smuggling enterprise.

Sentencing the pair, Deemster Graham Cook said both had been in it for financial gain and there was an element of planning.

He pointed out that while the two defendants were both charged with the production of 105g of cocaine, this was the total amount of drugs involved.

Parkhill, of Bassenthwaite Avenue, Liverpool, had previous convictions for drug offences while Stagg, of Saxon Street, Wrexham, was on licence in relation to a conviction for selling drugs.

Deemster Cook jailed Parkhill for a total of six years and Stagg for six years and two months.

Both men will be excluded from the Isle of Man for a period of five years after serving their sentences.