A middle-aged man found with wraps of heroin and crack cocaine has appeared in court almost five years after he was arrested.

Robert Herbert was stopped by police in Maidstone Road, Chatham, in September 2019, because he was acting suspiciously - he also started sweating and shaking when searched.

The 56-year-old had 16 wraps of crack cocaine and 13 of heroin on him and when officers arrested him, he blurted out he became a drug runner because he had a big debt.

Herbert, of Cornwell Cresent, Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, was later charged with two counts of being in possession of class A drugs with the intent to supply.

He admitted both when he appeared in the dock at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court on July 1.

Terry Knox, prosecuting, said: “Way back in September 2019 police came across the defendant and felt he was acting suspiciously.

“He was stopped and searched and refused to give the pin to his phone then said he had a big debt and shouldn’t have done it.”

Mr Knox did not explain to the bench why it had taken almost five years to get the case to court.

Magistrates also heard how at the time Herbert committed the offence he was at a low period in his life and had done it in an act of desperation.

The bench decided to send the case to Maidstone Crown Court to be dealt with as they deemed it so serious it fell beyond their sentencing powers.

They ordered a pre-sentencing report be carried out on Herbert before then and a date of his sentencing hearing is yet to be fixed.