Police officers in Norwich have been delivering potential drug dealers and their associates copies of the Evening News - to hammer home a stark warning about the consequences of their actions.

This week the Evening News has featured articles highlighting the tough sentences being meted out to drug dealers operating in the city which have been dropping on the doorsteps of potential offenders as part of a festive message from police.

Papers which have been posted through the letter boxes of those known to the police include articles about Abdul Mumin, 20, of London, who was sentenced to three years and four months behind bars at Norwich Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to supplying Class A drugs in the Sprowston Road area.

Also posted was the report of the case of Nicholas Massey, 33, and Simon Campbell, 30, both admitted a charge of being concerned in the supply of a controlled class A drug in Bowthorpe, were sentenced to a total of more than five years in prison.

The papers have been delivered by officers from Norfolk constabulary's tactical crime unit who hope the unusual move will serve as a warning to would-be offenders.

Detective Sergeant Robin Windsor Waite said: 'We were delivering them to some of the people in Norwich who we suspect may be involved in the drug trade. It's a good way of getting the word around.

'I think the cases that have been reported demonstrate the dangers of getting involved in drug dealing and that the courts in Norfolk take a really dim view of it.

'I would say what might go unnoticed on the streets of north London is quickly identified by the public in Norfolk and Norfolk Constabulary will act quickly and robustly to deal with it.'

As reported in the Evening News on Wednesday, Massey was jailed despite making a personal apology to the judge before he was sentenced and promising never to appear in court again.

Massey, of Necton, near Swaffham, was sentenced to a total of three years and nine months in prison. Campbell was sentenced to two years.

And yesterday a courier who was caught near Norwich, attempting to transport �1400 worth of heroin and crack cocaine from London, was jailed for three-and-a-half-years.

Anyone with any information about drug dealing or drug offences should call Norfolk police on 101.

Have you got a crime story? Call Evening News reporter Peter Walsh on 01603 772436 or email peter.walsh@archant.co.uk