THE matriarch of a drug dynasty who took charge of the business while her husband was in prison had her ten-year sentence cut yesterday in London's Appeal Court.

Maureen McPartland, of Middlesbrough, who said she was dominated by the "malign influence" of her husband, John, was jailed at Teesside Crown Court in December after she admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and possessing cannabis with intent to supply.

She was also made the subject of a £179,870 confiscation order.

The 44-year-old mother - referred to as "the big boss" - appealed against her sentence on the grounds that insufficient credit was given for her guilty plea and the extent she was under her husband's spell.

Reducing the sentence to eight years, Mr Justice Gibbs said McPartland felt herself "emotionally bound" to John McPartland Senior, who died while facing trial for conspiracy to supply heroin.

The couple had an intense and stormy relationship, said the appeal judge, with her feelings towards him varying between love and fear.

"Despite the seriousness of the offending, we think an eight-year sentence would adequately have reflected the guilty plea and mitigating features," said the judge, who was sitting with Lord Justice Buxton and Judge James Paget.

McPartland, of Roscoe Street, took over the daily running of the business after her husband was jailed for 12 years for heroin dealing in 1998.

Although he still masterminded operations by relaying instructions to his wife during prison visits, he made clear "she was to be solely in charge of the business".

The couple were foiled by tape recordings made of their prison conversations and intensive police surveillance, the court was told.

Also implicated in the drugs conspiracy was the couple's son, also called John, who received a four-year sentence after pleading guilty to conspiring to supply heroin.

The prosecution estimated that the business brought in about £4,000 a week in heroin deals, while police also seized heroin worth about £100,000 allegedly linked to the family business.

Cash and jewellery worth about £51,000 were also recovered.