THE final members of a gang responsible for an £8m-a-year drugs cartel were sentenced yesterday.

Heroin street dealer Paul French was the last of the ten to be sentenced by Teesside Crown Court Judge Peter Bowers.

French, 24, of Percy Street, Middlesbrough, was locked up for four years after he admitted conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, and was given a further six months for skipping bail.

The once-promising footballer failed to turn up at the court in December when the rest of the gang were sentenced because he wanted to spend Christmas with his family.

Co-accused Jeffrey Brown, 32, of High Croft, Spennymoor, County Durham, was given a two-year combination order after admitting his part in the conspiracy as well as witness intimidation in a separate case.

Nicholas Barker, prosecuting, said Brown had been involved in supplying drugs only once, on November 3, 2003, when he set up a deal for which he was paid £5.

As part of Operation Bridport, detectives spent six months posing as addicts to infiltrate the gang, who operated from modest homes in Middlesbrough to avoid attracting police attention.

They controlled a network selling drugs across the region, but instead of spending money on expensive houses, cars and clothes, it is thought they ploughed it into legitimate businesses overseas.

The others jailed for their part in the cartel, who are all from Middlesbrough and pleaded guilty to conspiracy, were:

Tabrez Khan, 25, of Waterloo Road, six-and-a-half years; Kerry Bogan, 20, of Northern Road, West Lane, five years; Michael Saunders, of Kelsall Close, four years; Michael Arundel, 24, of Belvedere Road, four years; Amran Bashir, 27, of Falmouth Street, three-and-a-half years; Najid Hussain, 24, of Stamford Street, three-and-a-half years; and Naveed Gulbhar, 23, of Park Lane, three-and-a-half years.

James Rutherford, 23, of Sedgebrook Gardens, was given a two-year jail term suspended for two years.

Judge Bowers yesterday made confiscation orders of £622 against French, and £1,300 against Hussain, but none for any of the others.

A hearing into how much Khan, described as "the controller", made from the illegal trade, will be held in May.