HE was warned that the “legal highs” he was selling were illegal but he didn’t listen.

Lloyd Phillips ignored repeated warnings from police that a number of branded drugs he was offering for sale contained class B and class C drugs.

Just hours before he was due to face trial at Southampton Crown Court for two counts of possessing controlled drugs, the 48-year-old changed his plea and admitted his guilt.

Sentencing him to 18 months behind bars, Judge Richard Hill told Phillips that he had been “careless” for continuously selling the so-called “legal highs” Giggle and Magic and as a result had “got his fingers burnt”.

The court heard how police visited Phillips in his shop, Lucid, in March 2010, when they warned him that due to changes in legislation Giggle now contained a class C drug.

Prosecutor Adam Feest said Phillips was “more than happy” to hand over his stock and police seized the drugs, giving him the benefit of the doubt that the defendant simply had been unaware of the change in legislation.

Four months later police returned to find Giggle still being sold and they seized five packets, each containing three tablets, at a value of £12 each.

A further visit in September saw police warn Phillips about the sale of Magic, which contained three separate class B drugs.

But with a marketing email sent out by Phillips via his website Headshop stating that Magic was “back in stock”

and that police were wrong to suggest it was illegal, officers decided “more formal and firm” action was needed.

On October 7 police raided his home, his shop and his lock-up garage in Thornhill, seizing a quantity of items, including 108 packets of Magic valued at £20 each.

When interviewed by police he stated he relied upon the wholesalers to make sure that they were selling legal products, admitting that he had not done any tests on any of the products.

In mitigation Matthew Jewel said that the selling of legal highs represented a “very small proportion” of his business and is a part which no longer exists.

Judge Hill said: “The quantities that the court is concerned with are relatively small. You have been careless.

“You were warned that Giggle and Magic were no longer legal but nevertheless you carried on selling them.”