A DRUG dealer tried to hide his heroin from police by claiming his video game character was dying.

Adonis Wright has been jailed for 42 months for taking advantage of a vulnerable woman and dealing drugs from her home.

On September 19 last year, Operation Raptor officers executed a warrant at an address in Harlow and immediately found a woman inside.

She was later identified as a victim of cuckooing, which involves drug dealers taking over the home of a vulnerable person to use it as a base for drug dealing.

Police then found Wright in the garden and began to questioning him. While talking to Wright, he became increasingly concerned for the fate of a character he had created on a computer game.

He continue to plead with officers to turn off his console because his character was dying and he was worried about losing his ‘hard work’.

The officers grew suspicious and believed this was a distraction technique.

They found a bag branded with dollar signs in a neighbouring garden, which belonged to an elderly woman. Inside they found wraps of heroin.

They also seized cannabis along with phones which revealed a history of drug supply.

Wright, 28, of no fixed address, was jailed on Tuesday, less than a week after his birthday, for 42 months for possession with intent to supply heroin and 18 months, to run concurrently, for possession with intent to supply cannabis.

Wright also received three months consecutive and one month concurrent for breaching suspended sentences.

Det Sgt James Paget, of Op Raptor West, said: "Wright received a bit of a shock when he heard us forcing entry to the address he had cuckooed

"We believe he jumped up while playing his Playstation and he quickly ran into the garden in an attempt to hide his drug dealing activities.

"His concern around his computer character only raised our suspicions and it didn’t take us long to find the drugs he had thrown into a neighbouring garden.

"Yesterday Wright received prison time for dealing drugs within our community and a vulnerable woman has been safeguarded. "He has plenty of time to think about his actions – and the fate of his computer character – behind a prison cell."