Thief jailed after swallowing £8,500 diamond ring

• Rayhanur Choudhury was trying on rings in Exclusive Jewellery, Brighton
• He is believed to have switched £8,500 white gold ring for cheaper version
• Police called and in the struggle a 'glint' was seen near Choudhury's mouth
• The 22-year-old is believed to have swallowed emerald cut diamond ring 
• He was fed up to six meals a day in police cells but failed to pass it
• Choudhury was convicted of theft of the ring and jailed for nine months

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Rayhanur Choudhury has been jailed for theft after he was believed to have swallowed a diamond ring

A thief has been jailed after he is believed to have swallowed an £8,500 chunky diamond ring when arrested by police. 

Officers said they saw Rayhanur Choudhury with a silver 'glint' in his mouth when they went to arrest him after being called to Exclusive Jewellery in Brighton. 

The 22-year-old was fed five or six meals a day in a police cell with no flushing toilet in a bid to get him to pass the ring, which was fully set with emerald-cut diamonds.

However nothing has been found.

He was convicted of theft and jailed for nine months, following a hearing at Brighton Crown Court. 

Police were called to the store in November last year after Choudhury started trying on rings while staff were distracted. 

Lilly Jordan, a shop assistant, suspected he had swapped the 18-carat white gold ring for a fake alternative. 

She told the court: 'I counted the rings and there were five but one seemed out of place.

'It stuck out like a sore thumb.'

Sabina Palermo, the manager of the store, said at the time: 'The missing ring is very chunky and certainly not something you would want to swallow.'

CCTV footage showed Choudhury tilt his head back during the struggle with police.

PC English said: 'He opened his mouth wide and I saw briefly the distinctive glint of something inside.

'I believe I saw something silver, an object that shouldn't have been there.'

Choudhury, of Newhaven, East Sussex, denied the theft and the ring was never found.

He told the court he had explained to officers he was unwell so he could have an X-ray at hospital to prove he had not swallowed the ring.

Alec Williams, prosecuting, said: 'It's a straightforward, not particularly sophisticated con trick, a switch.'

Choudhury was also ordered to pay a £100 victim surcharge.