FOUR members of an organised crime gang have been jailed for a combination of 18 years after admitting their involvement in a large-scale plot to supply Class A drugs across the North-East.

Following a lengthy covert operation by officers from the North East Regional Specialist Operations Unit (NERSOU), Grant Harrison and three of his associates were arrested during a raid at a property in Sandmere Place, Scotswood in August 2017.

They were found to be in possession of two kilograms of cocaine, estimated to be worth £90,000.

The men appeared at Newcastle Crown Court, where they each pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cocaine.

Grant Harrison, 26, of Bristol Terrace, Elswick, and his associates, Yan Winthrop, 32, of Leam Lane, and Daniel Armstrong, 30, of Sandmere Place, Newcastle, were each sentenced to five years imprisonment.

A third man, Dillon Brooks, 18, also of Sandmere Place was sentenced to three years imprisonment in a youth offending institute as he was only 17 when the crime took place.

Following the sentencing, temporary Detective Inspector Paul Halowell of Nersou said: “This was a lengthy covert operation which has resulted in four members of a very dangerous organised criminal group being taken off the streets.

“Our communities will be safer place with these men behind bars where they are no longer able to carry out their illicit activities.

“We recovered two kilos of cocaine, which will now never fall into the hands of drug dealers in our region.”