Lee Maltby, 28, smuggled the drugs, with an estimated street value of £18,000, into Britain and then planned to sell them,.

Lee Maltby, 28, smuggled the drugs, with an estimated street value of £18,000, into Britain and then planned to sell them,.

The first part went to plan and he slipped into Britain to visit family in Winchester, the city’s crown court heard.

But he could not remove the drugs, 45 grams of high-quality cocaine, from his stomach and six days later he was hit by severe stomach pains.

Maltby went to the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester and spent a week receiving treatment before nature took its course.

The court heard Maltby told medical staff he had swallowed cannabis.

Once he had passed the drugs, Maltby left hospital and returned to his wife and child in Brazil, where he has worked as an English teacher.

Health managers did alert the police once Maltby had been discharged, but he had already gone back to South America.

Hampshire police contacted him and persuaded him to return to England which he did.

Maltby initially denied possessing cocaine with intent but later changed his plea earlier this year.

His claimed that he had drugs problems and was under pressure from Brazilian dealers because he owed them money.