A WEYMOUTH man has been jailed for five years and eight months for smuggling drugs into Guernsey.

Sidney Caine Howitt, aged 21, of Culliford Way, Littlemoor, imported 96.64 grams of class B controlled drug mephedrone on to the Channel Islands, Guernsey Royal Court heard.

He admitted carrying four packages of mephedrone internally after being stopped by Guernsey Border Agency officers on July 18.

The drugs seized were worth between £6,000 and £8,000, the court heard.

Unemployed Howitt travelled to Guernsey on a Condor ferry from Poole, the court heard.

The court was told that Howitt said he was travelling alone and had come to Guernsey to celebrate his 21st birthday with a friend whom he had met on Facebook and through online gaming.

Judge Russell Finch was told that upon further questioning, Howitt told the officers that he was carrying drugs internally. Whilst in custody, Howitt produced four packages that contained the mephedrone.

Upon sentencing, Judge Finch said: “It’s time to wise up and take responsibility.”

He said he was sorry that drugs had clearly ruined the life of Howitt, and he sees the misery of drug use day after day.

Island authorities say they take a hard line on anyone attempting to smuggle drugs on to the island.

In February a Weymouth couple were jailed after using a three-year-old girl as cover to smuggle heroin, a court was told.

David Iain Shields, 31, and Emma Louise Pring, 24, pleaded guilty to importing heroin into Guernsey when they appeared in the Royal Court.

Shields, of Kirkleton Avenue, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years’ imprisonment and Pring, of Canberra Crescent, was given six years.

The pair admitted to travelling with a three-year-old child from Weymouth to Guernsey by ferry on July 14 last year in a joint attempt to smuggle Class A drugs.

Shields had previously been convicted of importing the Class A drugs ecstasy and crack cocaine on to the island in 2006.

At the time of his arrest he was on bail for supplying crack cocaine.

A spokesman for Guernsey Border Agency said sentencing by local authorities is more severe to deter future criminals.

He said: “On the basis that the local authorities take a very serious view of drug trafficking, people coming to the island with drugs can expect to be caught and given very severe sentences, particularly ones who are re-offending.

“The courts here take the view that even a small amount could cause a major problem in our community and the jail term reflects that. We want to send out a message that no-one should contemplate taking drugs to Guernsey.”