Cocaine gang given 16 years behind bars

Three men have been jailed for a combined total of more than 16 years after being caught with almost £5,000 worth of cocaine in Ludlow.

Michael Kohler, 36, from Liverpool, and Wayne Keoghan, 37, from Cardiff, were both sentenced to five years in prison at Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday for conspiracy to supply the drug. Ringleader Michael Yates, 36, also from Cardiff, was sentenced to six years and six months.

They were caught with 120 grams of the class A substance, with a street value of £4,800, in July last year after a police tip-off from members of Ludlow Golf Club.

The court heard members had become suspicious of an Audi car and reported its registration to the police.

They said they had seen the men digging at the side of the road in nearby Bromfield.

On the same day officers found the car parked in front of a white Mercedes van outside Ludlow Football Club and discovered four men in the van.

As officers went to question them, two of them ran away but were caught. A bag of drugs was found nearby.

Kohler and Keoghan were found guilty on Thursday, while Yates had admitted the offence at an earlier hearing.

Judge Robert David Trevor Jones said the men knew the gamble they were taking.

He said: "All of you played your part in this conspiracy with the fourth man and possibly others who haven't been detained.

"Yates and Kohler were more substantially involved. Keoghan, you were there to support Yates.

"But all three of you knew what was going on and what was involved and how high the stakes were if you were caught."

The court heard that father-of-two Yates had got involved in the deal in a bid to pay off his own drug debts.

Jurors were told that Yates had been using the white van belonging to his employers, an asbestos removal company, at the time of the incident.

He was previously sent to prison in June 2006 for fours and two months for possession of a Class A drug with intent to supply.

Kohler and Keoghan had claimed that they had been visiting Ludlow to investigate the possibility of using a piece of land for a party, but Mr Steven Redmond, prosecuting, said that was not true.