Border Agency officers seized steroids and arrested West Yorkshire man after they intercepted package from Philippines at UK airport

A package addressed to Stephen Bedford was intercepted at Coventry Airport in 2018 that contained vials of anabolic steroids.

The 40-year-old admitted a charge of importing controlled drugs at Leeds Crown Court.

Border Agency officers opened the suspicious package when it arrived at the airport on June 29, 2018.

The package contained 28 vials of testosterone, a drug often associated with bodybuilding.

It is categorised as a Class C drug in the UK, meaning it can only be supplied though prescription.

Police were initially unable to gain access to his iPhone because it required a pass code.

Eventually he gave them the correct code and they found evidence on the phone that he intended to use some for himself, but sell the remainder.

It was found that he had paid £870 for the drugs, and that he had previously received at least one other consignment.

Bedford, of Grove Lane, Knottingley, has 12 convictions for 14 previous offences dating as far back as 1985.

Judge Tom Bayliss QC handed him a four-month jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, and told him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.

He said: "You are no stranger to the courts but you ordered anabolic steroids from the Philippines, the price was £870.

"These would have had a significant financial value in your hands and you expected financial gain for yourself.

"You claimed they were just for personal use, which was a lie."