A man convicted of attempting to smuggle drugs and knives into Westgate has been sentenced to spend four years behind bars.

Jovon Virgil, 27, was caught on CCTV throwing two pillowcases of items over the facility’s fences in the early hours of January 21, 2013.

While he eluded police at the scene, he was arrested later that morning wearing clothes matching those recorded on camera. The packages were recovered by prison staff. Inside, officers found 1.79 grams of cannabis, 2.18 grams of cannabis resin, 13.19 grams of heroin, tobacco, two plastic bottles of alcohol, two knives, a liquid lighter and a bag of oats.

Virgil steadfastly denied being the man caught on camera, saying he had nothing to do with the incident but he was convicted after a trial in Magistrates’ Court of possessing all three drugs with intent to supply in an Increased Penalty Zone, unlawfully tossing contraband into Westgate, trespassing onto prison grounds and two counts of possessing bladed articles in a public place.

During a sentencing hearing yesterday, Crown counsel Nicole Smith told the court that there were no mitigating factors in Virgil’s favour, and the severity of the offences required a penalty that might deter Virgil and others.

“The nature of the offence committed is serious because if the items in the defendant’s possession made it into the hand of the prison population, there could have been safety concerns not only for the inmates but also the corrections officers,” she said.

Ms Smith told the court that Virgil had previously been sentenced to three years in prison for possessing a bladed article in a public place and, while that sentence was supposed to be followed by three years of probation, he had never been placed on supervised probation. And she said Virgil had shown no culpability or remorse, noting that he told report writers that he had nothing to do with the incident.

Speaking in his own defence Virgil asked the court for leniency, saying that at the time of his arrest he was trying to piece his life together after being homeless for more than a decade, and that the stress of his trial had caused his fiancee to miscarry. “Even though I was found guilty, I still maintain my innocence,” he said. “I just want to get it over with so I can get on with my life.”

However, Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo said he was satisfied after watching the CCTV footage recorded at Westgate that Virgil was the man recorded at the perimeter of the prison, adding: “I didn’t believe your story. I didn’t think you were credible.”

Mr Tokunbo said that Virgil had committed very serious offences, stating that his actions could have put the lives and safety of those within the prison at risk.

And noting his previous conviction for possessing a bladed article, the magistrate said: “I would think you really would try to put your life together, but that’s not the impression I get.”

He sentenced Virgil to 15 months imprisonment for the cannabis and cannabis resin charges and 2.5 years for possessing heroin. He further sentenced Virgil to six months for unlawfully entering Westgate grounds and a year behind bars for throwing the bags of contraband onto the grounds.

Regarding the bladed article charges, Mr Tokunbo sentenced Virgil to three years in prison, with an additional year for having the items in an increased penalty zone.

However, he then ordered that all of the sentences — apart from throwing the bags of contraband — to run concurrently, and suspended one year of the sentence, leaving Virgil with a sentence of four years behind bars. He also ordered that period of incarceration to be followed by three years of probation.