A heroin addict?s emotional plea for mercy fell on deaf ears on Friday as a judge jailed the man for eight years for possession with intent to supply.

Calvin St. Clair Edwards, 46, of Tankard Lane, Sandys, pleaded guilty in October to the charge, and has since enrolled in a drug rehabilitation programme.

Edwards was stopped by Airport Immigration officials on March 6 this year and was taken to hospital for an X-ray, after it was suspected he had ingested drug pellets.

The X-ray revealed two foreign objects stored in his rectum, one of which, when retrieved, contained 37.55 grams of heroin.

Edwards had initially asked hospital staff whether he could use a bed pan, before becoming involved in a violent struggle with a Police officer when he attempted to flush the secreted contents down a nearby toilet.

Defence counsel Craig Attridge argued that Edwards? case was ?exceptional?, in that he had been a ?functioning? heroin addict, working seven days a week to support his family and had never intended the drugs for anybody else but himself.

Mr. Attridge said that by imposing a long custodial sentence on Edwards, the court would ?completely undermine? the progress he had made in rehab and voiced concerns that the drug programmes at Westgate would not meet his client?s needs.

?This is a man with a half-a-gram-a-day heroin addiction, who would have got through this supply in about two months,? he said.

?He went to great lengths to conceal his addiction from his family and friends and was never involved in any attempts to distribute the drug. I would argue, therefore, that it is not in the best interests of him or the country to lock Mr. Edwards up in Westgate.

?Instead, I would ask the court to consider a novel approach to sentencing by not imposing a term of imprisonment and allow my client to continue his rehabilitation.?

Addressing the court from the dock, Edwards asked for leniency.

?I am an addict in need of serious help,? he said. ?I am a good citizen of this country and have worked hard to support my family. I?m honestly ashamed of what I?ve done, but the drugs were never intended for anybody else. Prison is not the answer for people like myself. I?m begging your for mercy.?

Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves said that by not imprisoning Edwards, he would be ?opening the floodgates? ? with the case being used as a precedent by other ?importing? heroin addicts, attempting to avoid prison.

Mr. Greaves also rejected defence claims that the drugs had been solely for personal use, pointing to a ?strategy of manipulation? both in his interviews with Police and in his ?sneaky? behaviour in hospital.

?I cannot except the defence?s argument that this is an ?exceptional? case,? he said. ?A non-custodial sentence would set an awkward precedent for the future, with judges being unable to separate the corn from the chaff.?