A PRISON inmate who got his girlfriend to smuggle in the drug Spice has been spared a further jail sentence because is now working to reform ex offenders.

Ben Anthony was caught by prison officers at Channings Wood as he tried to hide a tube containing the psycho active substance up his bottom in a visiting room.

A CCTV operator at the jail near Newton Abbot spotted his girlfriend reaching under her skirt and passing him a package during a visit in April 2018.

Officers tried to intervene but Anthony pushed them out of the way and tried to stuff the contraband into his underwear.

He was in prison serving a three-year term for drug dealing at the time but was released in December 2018 and has been working with a rehabilitation organisation in Manchester ever since.

A judge at Exeter Crown Court praised his efforts to reform himself and told him it would be wrong to send him back to jail so long after the offence.

He criticised the 21 month delay in bringing his case to court and said he had used the time wisely to turn his life around.

Anthony, aged 24, of Rotherdale Avenue, Timperley, Altrincham, admitted two counts of possession class B and one of possession of class C drugs with intent to supply.

He was jailed for 16 months, suspended for 18 months by Judge David Evans, who told him:”If you had been charged as speedily as you should have been, you would have received an immediate consecutive sentence.

“There have been wholly inexplicable delays which have enabled you to do everything the court would want you to do to reform yourself.

“The court should congratulate you on the progress you have made. You will need to be vigilant in the future.”

Miss Caroline Bolt, prosecuting, said Anthony was passed a tubular package during a visit which he was seen putting down his trousers.

Officers tried to intervene but he got up and ran for the exit. He was rugby tackled but tried to hide the drugs inside his body as he was being restrained.

There were five packages of spice and five containing the heroin substitute Subutex. They had a total street value of £474, but Anthony would have got around £3,800 if he went through with his plan to sell them inside the jail.

Miss Rachel Smith, defending, said Anthony was working on a project for ex offenders called Clean Start where he is helping others stay out of crime.

The woman who took the drugs to the prison is being dealt with at another Crown Court in the North of England.