A man who tried to smuggle drugs into Lincoln prison while visiting his brother was caught out by a sniffer dog.

Lincoln Crown Court heard staff at the jail were alerted when the dog approached Barry Newton in the visiting room.

Prosecutor Ian Way said a warder then watched Newton on close circuit television as he passed a package of cannabis resin to his brother.

In court on Tuesday, Newton was sentenced to seven months jail.

Guilty plea

Judge Michael Heath said: "The courts will simply not tolerate the taking of drugs into prisons."

The court heard Newton was bailed to his home but failed to turn up at Lincoln Crown Court when his case was listed in December.

Chris Geeson, mitigating, said Newton had later decided to hand himself in at Lincoln Police Station after he managed to get off drugs and start a job.

Mr Geeson told the court Newton had only taken cannabis into Lincoln prison to help his brother get off heroin.

Newton, 24, of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, admitted supplying a Class-B drug on 3 April last year and failing to attend court on 6 December.