A man who was caught in possession of heroin while he was serving time in jail has been jailed for a further six-and-a-half months.

Mario Farrugia, 49, was caught with 0.165 grams of heroin on May 12, 2005 after prison warders saw him acting suspiciously as he was walking from Division Four and the prison yard.

He was seen discarding a foil sachet which was found to contain a brownish substance. The warders found five sachets of heroin.

Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras sentenced the man to six-and-half months in jail after noting that he had had several convictions on his criminal record which consisted of 38 A4 sheets.

The court also noted that although the incident happened in 2005 the charges were not filed before August 2008, with the first sitting taking place in October the following year.

Although Mr Farrugia was cleared of heroin trafficking, his punishment increased because he committed the crime at the Corradino Correctional Facility.

Lawyer Roberto Montalto appeared for the accused.