PAINSTAKING police work uncovered how two York men acted as pawns in a sordid conspiracy to deal cocaine on the streets of York.

Now Vincent Edward Querishi and Lee Hayward, who acted as courier and storer of the drugs they sold for shamed York limousine company boss Dave Black, are facing years behind bars.

Querishi, 39, of Cranfield Place, Foxwood, was jailed for four-years, and 36-year-old Hayward, of Fourth Avenue, Tang Hall, was imprisoned for three-and-a-half years.

The pair had admitted being part of the “dangerous and harmful” conspiracy.

Doncaster Crown Court heard father-of-three Querishi had 46 previous convictions, including a ten-year jail sentence for conspiracy to commit armed robbery with imitation guns and sledgehammers.

Tim Capstick, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Black ran the operation, while Querishi took the drugs from Leeds to York and Hayward stored them.”

He said that between January and May last year, phone records monitored by police showed 967 calls had been made between the pair and Querishi had travelled between Leeds and York 17 times.

Simon Reevell, defending Querishi, said: “He accepts what he has done – his actions were to pay for his addiction.

“He was not living the high life with profits from the operation.

“He is a caring, loving and good father and partner and wants to build a future away from drugs.”

Hayward’s defence team told the court he was “not somebody who is a member of the criminal fraternity”, but had been sucked into the conspiracy because of his drug use.

Sentencing the pair, Judge Jacqueline Davies told them: “People who become involved in drugs conspiracies commit a serious offence – cocaine is a Class A drug which is dangerous and harmful. You were both part of a team, and though you were by no means at the heart of the operation, you both had a part to play.”

Black, the owner of A1 Luxury Stretch Limousines Ltd, whose business success once saw him act as chauffeur for former world boxing champion Prince Naseem Hamed, was convicted of conspiracy to supply cocaine earlier this year, having denied his involvement in a drug-dealing sideline, and of possessing 77.58g of skunk cannabis found in his freezer during a police raid in January 2008.

Black, 48, of Clifton Moor, is due to be sentenced on Thursday.