FOUR men from Barrow are due to be sentenced later this week for their roles in a £1m drugs supply plot.

The quartet are among 18 people embroiled in a criminal conspiracy which was masterminded by a serving prisoner using smuggled mobile phones.

However, the illegal enterprise which ran over several months last year was uncovered and smashed by police.

Large quantities of cocaine - some of a high purity - were seized along with other drugs. Much was said to have been destined for the Barrow area.

Among those rounded up by officers during the investigation were Kieron Fleming, 23, of Low White Close; Robert Rawlinson, 28, of Earl Street; Stewart Griffiths, 31, of Chester Place; and Jordan Graham, 29, of Church Street.

Having admitted involvement, they are due to be sentenced with their co-conspirators on Friday at Carlisle Crown Court following a two-day hearing.

Fleming appeared at the crown court today when evidence was given to resolve a dispute over the basis of his guilty plea.

In the witness box he admitted meeting a fellow cocaine courier in Lancaster on July 9 last year. He claimed he was handed 56g of the class A drug - well below the amount alleged by the prosecution.

He accepted this was for "onward supply into Barrow" but denied being part of a large scale operation.

Fleming further disputed that a larger consignment of cocaine, seized by police from another courier's car the month before, was meant for him.

This was marked with the letter "K".

"I can just say that package wasn't for me," he told the court.

But damning mobile phone evidence revealed significant contact between Fleming and other plotters - including the kingpin - around the key dates in June and July.

As a result, Judge Barbara Forrester concluded that the "K" package was meant for Fleming.

She further ruled he had taken delivery of a much larger amount of cocaine in Lancaster than he was claiming.