Convicted Shropshire drug dealer Naseer Zaman, who plotted to smuggle cocaine and heroin into the country, has had his 15-year prison sentence cut by appeal court judges.

Lawyers for 41-year-old Zaman claimed yesterday that the sentence imposed at Wolverhampton Crown Court in 2008 was too long.

Judges at London’s Court of Appeal reduced the sentence to 12 years after also being informed that Zaman had helped save the life of a fellow inmate.

“We have come to the conclusion that the total sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment was manifestly excessive in this case, following pleas of guilty,” said Lord Justice Maurice Kay.

He said although Zaman admitted being involved in sophisticated conspiracies to import Class A drugs, his personal mitigation was not without merit. Prison officers had written testimonials about Zaman raising the alarm which helped prevent a suicide and his direct involvement in assisting prison staff in talking a fellow inmate out of a hunger strike.

Zaman, of Abbey Road, Lilleshall, was jailed in 2008 after admitting conspiring to import cocaine and heroin and assisting an offender.

He was among a dozen drug dealers who were trapped in 2006 as part of Operation Walnut – a major investigation led by West Mercia police into gangs of drug runners.

Initially, Zaman was jailed for six years for conspiring to import pure cocaine and a further nine years for conspiring with two serving prisoners – Dean Gordon, 33, from Stirchley, Telford, and 45-year-old Kermal Erdogan – to import 10 kilos of heroin.

The first plot was foiled by police when the cocaine was intercepted on its way to Holland from South America.

Telephone evidence revealed that Zaman had later talked with both Gordon and Erdogan about a second plot to import pure heroin from Turkey.

In September 2006, Zaman had travelled to Turkey, but the plot failed because a dispute over the price of the batch of the deadly Class A drug.

At the time Gordon was serving nine years and Erdogan 13 years for previous drugs offences, and they were both sentenced to a further eight years.