A drug dealer tried to swallow 22 rocks of crack and heroin as he was being handcuffed, Sutton police said.

Maurice Foster, 41, was in an upstairs bedroom at his Orchard Road home when Sutton police's dog unit and safer neighbourhood officers forced their way in.

Foster was stopped when officers realised he was trying to swallow the stash.

On Wednesday, July 8, Foster was sentenced following a two-day trial at Croydon Crown Court, to four and a half years in jail and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £120.

The jury took less than an hour to return its verdict.

The drugs and drugs' paraphernalia were ordered to be destroyed following guilty verdicts for possession with intent to supply heroin and crack cocaine, both class A controlled drugs.