A drug dealer who was caught with heroin hidden in a Kinder Egg during a roadblock was jailed for a year after he failed to convince a magistrate the drug was for his personal use.

Vincent Spalding, 42, of Cospicua, was arrested in Żabbar in April 2006 after he was seen throwing items, including a Kinder Egg, out of a car in which he was a passenger.

Inside the chocolate egg, soldiers manning the roadblock had found 14 plastic sachets containing heroin. He was also found in possession of cannabis resin.

Court experts testified there was 0.32 grams of cannabis and 0.77 grams of heroin.

He told the police the heroin was split into sachets so he could calculate how much of the substance he was consuming on a daily basis.

But Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras said the possession of 14 sachets was significant in itself, especially since they were hidden in a Kinder Egg.

What the court found “crucial” was the precision with which the drugs were prepared in individual packets, each containing between 0.03 and 0.06 grams.

No weighing scales had been found during a search at Mr Spalding’s residence, which indicated the experience he had in calculating heroin doses.

The court found it strange that he spent more than half his weekly income from social benefits to finance his drug addiction.

He told the court he had been unemployed for nine years. Such circumstances indicated the heroin was not for his exclusive use, the magistrate concluded.

In considering punishment, the court noted that the case had been pending since 2006 mainly due to Mr Spalding’s “intransigence”.

She therefore sentenced him for 12 months in prison and fined him €700 for the heroin and €50 for cannabis possession. He was also ordered to pay €523 in court expenses.

Police Inspector Nezren Grixti prosecuted.