JAILED: Drug dealer caught with heroin stashed inside Kinder egg hidden in false leg

Paul Szwajkowski's prosthetic limb fell off as he scuffled with police, a court heard.

Officers had come to investigate after seeing him acting suspiciously and handing something over to another man.

A Kinder egg filled with the drug dropped out of the leg and the 45-year-old also had one in his mouth and was biting into it, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard.

Officers found heroin inside the eggs worth around £100 and also seized a mobile phone which had text messages on it indicating he was dealing.

Szwajkowski, of Chepstow Drive, Leegomery, Telford, had pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to possession of a class A drug with intent to supply and appeared yesterday to be sentenced in a wheelchair.

The court heard he was caught with the drugs on January 30, just days after receiving a community order and being warned to stay out of trouble following a number of shop thefts to feed his addiction.

Police were alerted to Szwajkowski in High Street, Hadley, when another man got into the passenger seat of his Vauxhall Astra and something seemed to be exchanged between the two men.

The defendant was seen to have one of the chocolate eggs in his mouth and was biting into it. Another fell out of his false leg as it became detached during a scuffle.

Mr Ben Hargreaves, for Szwajkowski, said: "He is a most wretched individual who has been addicted to heroin for a significant part of his adult life.

"He is a tortured addict who has lost his leg through his addiction and can barely stand at the moment."

Judge Robin Onions sentenced Szwajkowski to two years and four months in prison for the drug offence, and re-sentenced him to a further eight months for the theft offences after breaching the order.