A ferry passenger tried to smuggle drugs into the island by hiding cocaine inside his body.

Leon Edward Glover, from Fazackerley in Merseyside, was stopped by police stepping off the ferry from Heysham on February 18 this year.

He was accompanied Jason Lee McQuilliams, of Bride, but when the two approached the officers, they stopped speaking and moved apart.

The suspicious behaviour prompted police to search the two men who did not have suitable travel documents and provided confused accounts as to why they were travelling.

They were arrested and Glover, 33, was later found to have secreted two packages of cocaine up his backside. They contained a total of 96.1g of cocaine with a street value of £9,661.

Glover later admitted to possession of cocaine with intent to supply and the production of cocaine while McQuilliams, who bought the ferry tickets and accompanied Glover, admitted production of cocaine.

The two men appeared at the Court of General Gaol Delivery on Wednesday charged with the offences.

Advocate Helen Lobb, representing Glover, described him as a ‘drug mule’ and at the bottom end of drug dealing criminality.

She said he has struggled with drug addiction for some time and suffered a ‘traumatic incident’ in 2017.

Miss Lobb said: ‘My client has used his time in custody to detoxify. He is presenting now much healthier than he did at the time of his arrest.’

She told the court her client was not opposing a five-year exclusion order from the island on his release.

Advocate Jane Gray, representing McQuilliams, told the court her client had relevant previous convictions and had lived on the island for more than three years.

She said: ‘Those who know him are very much shocked as this is out of character.

‘He has three children who all live across but he is in a settled relationship over here.

‘He is a caring father, hard working and this is out of character.

Deemster Graeme Cook conceded the two men were at the bottom end of the scale within drug dealing criminality but told the men they were stilling playing a vital role which needs to be halted.

He pointed out there are posters at Heysham Port warning people carrying illegal drugs to the island cane be jailed for 12 years.

He said: ‘Until the mules are stopped and they take notice of the warning signs regarding punishments then the drugs trade over here will continue.’

Deemster Cook agreed McQuilliams had played a lesser role and said he would not issue an exclusion order for him as he had lived here for three years.

Glover was jailed for seven years for production of cocaine and five years concurrently for possession of cocaine with intent to supply. He will also be banned from visiting the island for five years upon his release.

McQuilliams was jailed for four years ten months for production of cocaine.