A British former headmaster of an international school in China has been jailed for 10 months in Singapore after admitting possession and consumption of methamphetamine, officials said Tuesday.

Damien Michael Charnock used to be the head of Dulwich College Shanghai, a branch of the exclusive London private school.

Police arrested the 60-year-old in March at an apartment in the city-state and discovered bags containing the drug and a glass contraption for smoking it, according to court documents.

The case has echoes of hit American TV programme Breaking Bad, which tells the story of a chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with cancer and turns to making meth to raise money to secure his family's future.

Charnock pleaded guilty to three drug charges, and the attorney-general's chambers confirmed he was jailed on Friday.