A young man who was caught trying to smuggle items into Forest Bank prison was 'naive, amateurish, foolish and exploited by others', a court heard.
Asfand Aamir, of Grafton Street, Rochdale, was 19-years-old when he attempted to pass 24 papers soaked in Spice, two iPhones, a charging cable, cigarette papers and a block of tobacco to inmate Abdul Javed.
Manchester Crown Court was shown CCTV footage of Aamir attempting to pass contraband to Javed, 28, by covering them with a white napkin during a visit on January 15 last year.
Three prison officers intervened and detained Javed, who had the items shoved down his trousers.
Analysis of the paper identified them as being soaked in Spice. The court heard they are worth £20 a sheet in prison.
Representing Aamir, Graham Rishton said his client had agreed to take the items to Javed to make money to pay off credit card debt.
Mr Rishton said: "He was 19 at the time and this is his first time before a court.
"He made a decision of remarkable foolishness.
"He conveys through me he has regret for his actions. This is in part his immaturity and naivety.
"We have seen the CCTV and saw how ham-fisted it was and the amateurishness of the whole enterprise.
"He has lived with the anticipation of disappearing into the dock for 15 months."
He said that in the 15 months since, Aamir has had no further involvement with the law and described the now 20-year-old as 'a naive young man'.
Aamir pleaded guilty to two offences of conveying articles into prison.
Mr Recorder Leach QC handed Aamir a two year suspended prison sentence, 20 rehabilitation activity requirement hours and 200 hours unpaid work.
He said: "You were 19, naive, exploited by others, you made for a good target.
"Because of the delay, you have lived with this hanging over your head.
"You have used that delay productively and put that time into making a better future.
"You have a reduction of a third of your sentence for your guilty plea.
"I am satisfied that the weeks you would spend in prison would do little but to expose you to more sophisticated prisoners.
"This will be your first and only chance to avoid a life sat on the side of the table occupied by Javed."
A warrant is out for Javed, of Wilton Bale Hostel, Oldham, who is charged with without authority possessing inside a prison mobile phones and class B drug Spice.
He was due to appear in court alongside Aamir but his whereabouts are unknown.
Javed was serving 40 months for a robbery offence and is currently on licence.
Representing him, Mr Steven Sullivan said: "Police have attempted to get in touch with Javed.
"He has breached his licence.
"It is believed he in the local area and is of no fixed address."
