A 45-year-old man has admitted possessing £1,762-worth of heroin after it was found up his bottom.

Paul Clint Shields pleaded guilty to having the class A drugs as well as possessing cannabis which was found at his home.

He had previously denied possessing the heroin with intent to supply, with the case due to be committed to the Court of General Gaol Delivery, but then changed his plea to guilty when the replacement charge of simple possession was offered.

Shields will be sentenced on June 30 after a probation report has been prepared.

Prosecuting advocate Chrissie Hunt told the court that Shields was the passenger in a Mini Cooper, which was stopped by police on January 9 at Africa Court in Douglas.

He was taken to police headquarters for a drug search and it was believed that a package was hidden in his anus so he was then taken to Noble’s Hospital, where he spent two days.

During that time, he produced the package which was seized by police and found to contain 14.1 grams of heroin, which they valued at £1,762.

Back at police headquarters, he was interviewed and handed in a prepared statement saying the heroin was for his own personal use and that he had only paid £400 for it because it was ‘poor quality’.

After being analysed, the heroin was found to have a purity of 14 %.

A warrant was executed at Shields’ home at Mona Terrace, Douglas, on an earlier date of December 3, where a search by police found 5.6 grams of cannabis, which they valued at £168, as well as scales.

During an interview regarding that, Shields handed in a prepared statement saying he had no intention of selling the cannabis and used the scales to weigh it out for himself.

Ms Hunt said that the case was suitable for summary court sentencing, now that it was only a possession charge.

Defence advocate David Reynolds agreed that the case should remain in summary court – which imposes shorter sentences than higher courts – and asked for a probation report to be prepared before sentencing.

Mr Reynolds said that his client had a number of relevant previous convictions and there was a background of issues with drugs which a report would be beneficial in dealing with.

Magistrates ordered that the probation report consider all sentencing options, including custody.

Bail continues in the sum of £500 with conditions to live at his home address and to contact probation services and co-operate with the preparation of the report.