An offender who smuggled drugs into prison has had his jail term cut on appeal.

Paul Clint Shields, 44, was sentenced to 73 days’ custody in August last year for bringing in a class B drug into the jail.

He had been released on licence after being jailed in 2011 for drug trafficking and money laundering offences.

But he was arrested for breaching that licence after failing to engage with the Drugs and Alcohol Team.

Shields was found in his cell in an apparently intoxicated condition and had to be taken to hospital where a subsequent x-ray revealed the presence of Kinder Egg in his rectum.

This contained 10 tablets of non-prescribed dihydrocodeine, valued at about £525.

Deemster Cook ordered him to serve 677 days’ custody of this unexpired term, on top of the 73 day sentence, making a total of 750 days in jail.

But Shields appealed against his sentence on the grounds it was ’manifestly excessive’ and/or ’wrong in principle’.

He did not seek to challenge the sentence of 73 days’ custody for introducing a prohibited article into the jail.

Shields had pleaded guilty to that charge on the basis that he didn’t know he was going to be recalled to prison, and the tablets were for his own use.

The appeal court has now ruled in his favour.

It quashed Deemster Cook’s sentence of 677 days’ custody and passed one of 365 days instead, making a total sentence of 438 days’ custody.

But they suggested the sentence of 73 days was too lenient, and ’probably unduly so’.

Judge of appeal Jeremy Storey QC and Deemster Alastair Montgomerie said: ’This is an extremely serious offence as the Deemster acknowledged.

’The Deemster was clearly right to impose a consecutive term of custody and to stress the need for defendants to be returned to prison where there has been such a blatant disregard of their licence to remain in the community and their sentence expiry date.

’However, it seems to us that activation of 96% of the maximum possible sentence was manifestly excessive.’