A Hackney drug dealer has been jailed after cops found three guns and live ammunition in his bedroom.

James Frimpong, 31, of Dalston Lane, was arrested near his home on suspicion of possessing a prohibited firearm by police officers on a covert operation to tackle gun crime in November, Wood Green Crown Court heard today - March 2.

When police tried to search his home, he warned his flatmates, "Money is on the heater you will see it", in the Ghanaian language Tiwi, to instruct them to remove the guns before they were found.

When officers broke into the house, they found a black cash box hidden down the side of Frimpong's bed containing three handguns, three detached magazines and eight rounds of live ammunition.

Crack cocaine and heroin were also found in the kitchen, along with plastic bags, razors and scales used to cut and split drugs.

Frimpong was charged the next day with possession of three firearms, and ammunition for a firearm without a certificate, as well as possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.

Frimpong had supplied an undercover officer with crack cocaine for £20 in February 2021, and the following month supplied wraps for £20 on the basis they were crack cocaine and heroin - although no drugs were actually in the cellophane.

He had been a drug addict at the time, but has undergone rehabilitation in prison, the court heard.

He pleaded guilty at Wood Green Crown Court on December 7 last year and was jailed for 10 years and 10 months at the same court today.

Frimpong was sentenced to 10 years and 10 months in jail - which includes 15 months' activation of two previous suspended sentences for robbery and drug dealing, due to his reoffending.

Recorder Emma Deacon QC, said: "You stated you were a short term custodian of the firearms and ammunition, and that they were delivered to you a week prior to your arrest, and you were asked to look after them for the people you were dealing drugs for, and to whom you offered a drugs debt.

"Those were lethal weapons and given your criminal association in the world of class a drug dealing was of the utmost seriousness."

Det Insp Glenn Butler from the Met's specialist crime team added: “Each firearm seized had the capability of causing fatal injuries and causing devastation to families."