A MAN is paying a high price after he got caught smuggling tobacco into smoke-free Redditch jail.

Town magistrates were told prices for what inmates call 'snout' have rocketed since a ban on smoking at HMP Hewell, with just a bottle top full being sold for £25.

The shocking statistic was revealed during a court appearance by Imran Rashid, who pleaded guilty to taking tobacco into the prison in June last year.

The court heard Rashid, aged 34 from The Broadway in Birmingham, visited his brother and video surveillance footage clearly showed him taking the tobacco out of his pocket and placing it in a crisp packet which he passed to his sibling.

The once of tobacco was quickly discovered when Rashid's brother was stopped and searched after the visit.

Farzana Begum, for Rashid, told magistrates her client was genuinely sorry and under the influence of his brother.

Ms Begum added: "Brotherly love made him commit the offence, he didn't think for himself."

Rashid, who has previous convictions for possession of cannabis and failing to provide a breath specimen to police, was fined £67 and ordered to pay £625 costs plus a surcharge of £30.