A Tonbridge drug dealer who hid cannabis inside a living room wall has been jailed for a year.

Thomas O’Toole, 24, hid the drugs in a man-made hole at his home in Trench Road, but evidence of his supply chain was uncovered after Kent Police executed a search warrant at the property last month.

Officers entered the address on February 26 and seized a total of 34 deal bags of herbal cannabis, found stashed inside the hole. A further 18 deal bags were located nearby, along with more drugs in O'Toole's bedroom.

Mobile phones seized from the property were later forensically examined and found to contain text messages consistent with multiple drug deals.

During police interview O’Toole claimed he was a heavy cannabis user and insisted all the drugs were for his own use.

Appearing before Maidstone Crown Court, however, he admitted to being a dealer, pleading guilty to a charge of possessing cannabis with intent to supply before being sentenced to 12 months in prison.

Sergeant Ash Boxall said: "There is little doubt Thomas O’Toole has been supplying drugs over a significant period of time and his arrest and subsequent sentencing is the culmination of a lot of hard and tireless work by local officers.

"O’Toole’s activities will no doubt have also had a detrimental impact to law abiding residents living close by and we will now work with the relevant housing association with the aim of ensuring he is not allowed to return to this property."