A 29-year-old man has been jailed for possession of drugs and a knife, after being stopped in Hatfield.

Dwayne Gerald, of Ellenby Crescent, London, was arrested in April last year by Operation Scorpion officers in Foxhollows.

He was then charged with possession of class A crack cocaine and heroin with intent to supply, possession of class B cannabis and possession of a bladed article.

PC Angela Wilcox, from Operation Scorpion, said: "I am glad that Gerald will spend a considerable amount of time behind bars.

"Drugs destroy communities and Hertfordshire Constabulary will not tolerate any kind of illegal drug activity.

"We do all we can to disrupt the local drugs trade and we seized around 30 wraps of class A drugs during this arrest, along with £636 in cash.

"I hope that the residents of Welwyn Hatfield feel reassured that a knife has been taken off our streets, with the offender brought to justice. "There is a never a justified reason to carry one even if you think it will protect you.

"It simply puts you in more danger and as this case shows, you could end up in jail."

The Operation Scorpion unit tackles acquisitive crime - such as burglaries, robberies and drug offences - by relentlessly pursuing criminals and bringing them to justice.

After pleading guilty at St Albans Magistrates' Court on 5 September 2019, Gerald was sentenced at St Albans Crown Court on Friday, October 4 to four years in prison for the possession of drugs and a knife.

If you have information about drug dealing, drug use or knife crime in Welwyn Hatfield, report it online at herts.police.uk/report, speak to Herts Police's operator in its Force Communications Room via its online web chat at herts.police.uk/contact or call the non-emergency number 101.

If a crime is in progress or someone's life is in danger, call 999 immediately.

Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via the independent charity's untraceable online form at crimestoppers-uk.org.