An inmate has doubled his stay at Jurby after he was convicted of bringing drugs and phone sim cards into the prison.

Scott Eric Carbutt collected packages containing class A drugs MDMA (ecstasy) and cocaine, as well as class B drug ketamine and two sim cards which had been thrown over the prison walls by two people from the outside.

He appeared at the Court of General Gaol Delivery for sentencing on Monday having previously admitted three counts of attempting to introduce drugs to the Isle of Man Prison and possessing the three drugs with intent to supply and smuggling a phone card into the prison.

The court head how Carbutt, 42, had been elevated to the status as a ‘trusted’ prisoner which allowed him to perform gardening duties in the grounds of the prison.

He was carrying out such work on May 8, 2024, during which time he went to the toilet a number of times, saying he had stomach problems.

When being returned to the prison, a spontaneous search was carried out which are intermittently done when the inmates have been out in the garden area.

Carbutt was put in a holding cell which had been checked beforehand. The cells are also covered by CCTV.

He was strip searched and also had to go through a body scanner. However, a prison officer found a jumper belonging to Carbutt in the holding cell.

When the officer picked it up, a package fell out which was later found to contain 26.6 grams of MDMA, 3.27 grams of cocaine and 14.61 grams of ketamine, as well as two Manx Telecom SIM cards.

When the package was found Carbutt admitted it contained the three drugs and said: ‘It all belongs to me and I’m looking at ten years.’

But when he was later interviewed, he answered ‘no comment’ to all questions.

In mitigation, advocate David Reynolds argued the offences were ‘opportunistic’ and not pre-planned although Deemster Graeme Cook questioned how Carbutt knew what drugs were in the package.

Mr Reynolds also said Carbutt has been battling addiction for most of his adult life.

He said: ‘My client has been addicted to class A drugs for a significant period of his life.

‘He had been doing very well in prison and was drug-free, but he found the package and had a lapse, taking some of the drugs.’

Carbutt, who had been sentenced to 58 months in jail in 2023 for a number of offences including drugs, was due for parole next year but had already been told he wouldn’t be considered for early release anymore.

Deemster Cook told Carbutt the aggravating factors were his previous convictions and the fact he had been put in a trusted position in prison which he abused.

But he accepted Carbutt suffered from medical issues following a fractured skull and struggled to deal with the bereavement of an ex-partner. Deemster Cook also reduced the sentence following Carbutt’s early guilty plea.

Carbutt was jailed for five years four months for possessing MDMA with intent to supply. He was handed concurrent sentences for the other five offences.