A PRISON inmate who hid £6,000 drugs in his underwear was caught after guards noticed him walking with an unusual waddle.

Matthew Goodchild was bullied into keeping the drugs on behalf of another inmate at Channings Wood Prison near Newton Abbot, but detected as he walked to and from the visiting area.

Officers recovered heroin, cocaine, an artificial opiate and a powerful painkiller and CCTV showed him walking strangely as he tried to conceal the contraband.

Goodchild, aged 23, of Higher Westbury, Bradford Abbas, admitted four counts of drug possession and was jailed for four months by Judge Peter Johnson at Exeter Crown Court.

He told him: ‘It seems from the CCTV that when you attended the visit from your girlfriend, you may have taken the drugs with you because you were described as having walked strangely as you went to and from the table.

‘The drugs were worth around £6,000 within the prison environment, where the presence of drugs has a marked effect on discipline because they can be used as currency.’

Mr Richard Crabb, prosecuting, said the 12.66 grams of cocaine, 26.2 grams of heroin, 20 Subutex tablets and 29.66 grams of Pregabalin were seized on September 20, 2019.

Goodchild, who was serving a one-year sentence, told officers he had been forced to hide the drugs by another inmate.

Mr Patrick Mason, defending, said Goodchild had been subjected to pressure which fell just short of duress. He is currently serving a short sentence at HMP Lewes in Sussex but plans to resume his work as a bricklayer on his release.