Moment laughing gas dealer arrested after telling police drugs were Christmas presents

This is the moment a drug dealer tells police “party bags” containing canisters of laughing gas are “Christmas presents”.

Thomas Salton, 30, became the first person to be jailed for possessing the drug since it was outlawed, when he appeared in court on Monday (19 February).

Body-worn camera footage from Essex Police captures the moment Salton, from Brentwood, was pulled over in his Range Rover on 1 December, last year.

When asked what is in his car, he tells the officer “Christmas presents”.

Salton had gift boxes for customers which included 60 small canisters of nitrous oxide, banned by the Government in November 2023, along with 48 one-gram bags of ketamine and £39,000 in cash.