A MAN from Flintshire threw a parcel of cannabis over a fence into the ground of a prison to pay off his own drug debt, a court heard.

Jamie Worrall, of Walwen House, Bagillt Road, Bagillt, was seen crossing a field near the Stoke Heath prison in Shropshire last month.

Worrall, 30, claimed he had been ordered to deliver £1,800 woth of cannabis to the jail.

Threats had been made been made that his home would be set on fire and a car had previously been set alight outside the premises.

Appearing at Shrewsbury Crown Court, Worrall was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years.

Judge Jim Tindall said he had taken account that Worrall had been doing well under supervision while on licence for previous drugs offences.

“The reality of the situation was that you owed a drug debt,” Judge Tindall said.

”You were told by a drug dealer if you threw a packet over the fence the debt would be cleared. If not, the next thing to be set on fire was your house.”

Worrall, who had admitted a charge conveying a prohibited item into a prison, was advised to contact police if he or his family were threatened again.

Howard Searle, prosecuting, said Worrall was caught after the prison authorities received intelligence that there might be a “throw over”.

Officers saw a car pull up and Worrall get out wearing clothing suggesting he was a worker of some sort and he was seen walking across a field before throwing a parcel into the prison grounds.

The parcel was intercepted before it could be recovered by any of the prisoners and it contained cannabis with a street value of £1,800, but said to be worth much more inside the prison.

Robert Edwards, defending Worrall, said his client had turned his life around since being released from an earlier prison sentence.