European human rights judges yesterday ordered the Government to pay a convicted drug trafficker £3,400 in costs and expenses after ruling that he was jailed on evidence from illegally-obtained tape recordings.

But the court in Strasbourg said it was only the way the recordings were obtained which breached the human rights of James Hewitson, a 55-year old garage owner from Dorset, and not the recording itself.

Mr Hewitson was given a five-year prison sentence in 1997 for importing and supplying cannabis. He failed to prevent tapes of his private conversations being used as evidence at his trial.

The prosecution acknowledged at the time that without the tapes it lacked sufficient evidence for a conviction.

The first paragraph of Article 8 of the European Human Rights Convention, to which Britain is a signatory, states: "Everyone has the right to respect for his private life."

The second paragraph says: "There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary . . . for the prevention of disorder or crime."