A drug mule who claimed the $100,000 worth of heroin he smuggled into Bermuda was for personal use has been jailed for five years.

Jason Barnett, 31, from Wolverhampton, England was arrested at the Airport on November 26 last year.

He later passed nine pellets containing $103,920 worth of heroin.

The jobless 31-year-old DJ told Police he had been promised 2,000 in England by a threatening Jamaican Yardie and had taken the money to pay for bills and Christmas presents for his five-year-old son.

He said the Yardie would not say what the drug was and that he was given a ticket and promised payment once in Bermuda.

In his Police statement read in Supreme Court yesterday he said he had become worried about the deal and had missed the original flight but went days later after worrying about his own safety and that of his family.

He told Police: "I felt obliged to do this. I was in fear for my life. This guy was very intimidating."

As cover he went with Lynsey Cox who posed as his girlfriend.

Barnett had pleaded guilty to a charge of importing heroin in July while denying a charge of importation with intent to supply which remained on file.

But the judge ordered a special "Newton" hearing before sentencing after the defence and crown disagreed over whether Barnett brought the drugs for his own use or money - an issue which could be used as mitigation in sentencing.

Yesterday Barnett gave a completely different version of events after claiming he had given Police a story to save his girlfriend Lynsey Cox, whom he said he had been dating for three years, from a conspiracy charge. She was later released by Police.

He said: "I thought she would not be able to handle the pressure of being away from her family."

The drugs had been for his and Cox's use during their week long visits, claimed Barnett, who said he had been a heroin addict for seven years. He claimed to have bought the heroin for 1,460.

However, Assistant Justice Archibald Warner questioned whether a jobless DJ on 110 a fortnight welfare would have the means to buy such a quantity.

In his Police statement Barnett said he hadn't worked for five months but in court he said his DJ job paid well as he was a top attraction at a Birmingham night club where he was known as Groove Rider and could earn 1,000 on a good night.

However, he also admitted in court yesterday he had no money to pay the duty lawyer after his arrest.

During his mitigation Barnett told the court he had lost his sister Letisha Shakespeare who was one of three innocent victims killed outside a hairdresser's salon in Birmingham, England over a feud between two gangs at New Year's party last year.

But Mr. Warner took the Crown's version of the case that Barnett was importing for money.

He sentenced Barnett to five year's prison with time in custody taken into account.