A LENGTHY investigation into heroin dealing on Teesside has ended with two men being sentenced to a total of five-and-a-half years in prison.

When police raided Terence Moloney's Middlesbrough home in December, 2003, a sniffer dog discovered £100,000 worth of low-quality heroin stashed away in the three bedroomed house.

Moloney, 41, had pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply a class A drug, at Teesside Crown Court.

His accomplice, Raymond Mann, 37, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supplying a class A drug between October and December, 2003.

Sam Andrews, prosecuting, said Moloney's house, in Hedingham Close, Grove Hill, had also been raided in October, 2003, when 2.97g of heroin was seized along with scales, gloves, a cosh and cash.

A third raid, in the December, found £5,000 worth of heroin stored in the bathroom of the house when Mann was looking after the property while Moloney was in custody.

Mr Andrews said Mann, whose address was given as Holme House Prison, acted as a minder for the drugs and did not gain financially from the illicit enterprise, but was paid in heroin.

In mitigation for Moloney, Anne Faul said the lengthy delay in the conclusion of the proceedings had an adverse affect on her client's health.

"This caused the defendant a considerable amount of stress and strain," she said. "The defendant had open heart surgery last August."

Peter Makepeace, in mitigation for Mann, described his client as a minnow in the dealing racket.

The court heard the pair had originally figured in a large, organised drug supply investigation, about which Cleveland Police will be revealing further details this morning.

Sentencing Moloney to three years 11 months, Judge Peter Briggs said: "You are a little further down the supply chain than others that come before the court, but it is still a serious matter."

Sentencing Mann to 18 months custody, he said: "You are a very lowly figure in this case, but custody must apply in relation to these matters."

The court heard that Mann was already serving two years custody after being sentenced in February for supplying class A drugs.

Two men who were also picked up during the raids, Craig Morris and Craig Stephenson, have both since died, Morris as the result of a car accident and Stephenson when he was stabbed in a fight on the Grove Hill estate.