A man was today jailed for two months for having smuggled 68 pills into prison on the day he was convicted for drug trafficking.

Jason Zammit was jailed for 12 years for trafficking in heroin and cocaine on March 29, 2006.

According to normal procedure, when he was taken to the Corradino prison he was searched but nothing was found on him. The following day he informed prison staff that he had hidden pills in his anus.

Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras heard how Mr Zammit has said that the pills – painkillers called Dihydrocodeine - had been prescribed to him. He carried them around with him wherever he went and, on the day of his court hearing, when he realised he was going to be jailed, he went to the toilet at the law courts and inserted them into his anus.

After his jail term was read out in court he tried to remove the pills in the lock-up at the law courts and while he was in the police van on his way to jail - but did not manage.

He was taken to prison and the following day he owned up about the pills and was taken to hospital where X-rays revealed the presence of the pills.