THE unexpected discovery of a stash of drugs when police where searching for a suspect has landed another man in jail.

A haul of heroin, worth an estimated £35,000, was recovered from a house in Stockton after Cleveland Police raided the property in November 2017.

Lewis Hammond and two others were inside the house when more than a kilogramme of heroin, split into different weight categories, was recovered from the house on Tithe Barn Road.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the other two co-accused where cleared of any involvement in the supplying of drugs with Hammond being the only person to plead guilty.

Rachel Master, prosecuting, said the police also found heroin and a large sum of money when they searched the property.

Hammond, of Etherley Walk, Stockton, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply heroin and cannabis as well as possession of criminal property.

Alex Bousfield, mitigating, said his client has pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

He said: "He appears to have been out of trouble since, apart one case of criminal damage, he does seem to have amended his ways and keep himself on the straight and narrow."

Jailing Hammond for four years and ten months, Judge Deborah Sherwin said the cases against the other two men had been discontinued.

She added: "Quite clearly there was a large quantity of heroin worth in the region of £35,000, some of it up to 13 per cent purity. It was a large amount in different sizes, some of them up to quarter of a kilogramme."