Relatives spoke of their "astonishment" and "disbelief" that loved ones had become embroiled in a massive Carlisle cocaine supply plot.

A judge heard how painstaking police work allowed officers to smash a conspiracy through which class A drug deals potentially worth £300,000 were destined for users.

But Recorder John Bromley-Davenport QC also listened to moving mitigation on behalf of seven men whose relatives packed a public gallery at Carlisle Crown Court for a sentencing hearing spanning two days.

Others were allocated overspill seats usually reserved for jurors.

References were penned by relatives of Scott Sutherland - a man with no previous convictions who led a conspiracy described by his lawyer, Paul Tweddle, as "sordid".

"These references are effectively from the heart," said Mr Tweddle. "They indicate a level of astonishment that he is involved in something of this nature; disbelief."

An employer of Sutherland - who is 25-years-old with a partner and four-year-old son "who visits him in prison" - spoke of "shock and bewilderment".

Former England schoolboy boxing champion Jason Hill became a "cocaine addict", the court heard, who spent up to £250 a week on the drug.

Hill, 21, was, insisted Mr Tweddle, "someone with a lot of potential, supported by his family (in court)".

At the age of 14 Hill took the English ABA Schoolboy Championships title, and was tipped to follow in Amir Khan's footsteps as a national award-winner.

Alan Hudson Williams, now 70, was the father of a 14-year-old son who had secured the Derwent Street address - used as the plot headquarters - to house the pair.

But Williams - previously unconvicted and with health issues - turned to cocaine while at a "low ebb".

"He does not understand why the hell, aged 69, the drug would be any way to blot out the problems in his life," said Mr Tweddle.

"He is a gentleman who should have known better."

Adam Ritson's cocaine habit landed him with a £1,500 debt paid off through his role in the conspiracy. The 28-year-old had a partner and worked as a roofer since leaving school.

Lawyer Ian Hudson gave mitigation for both Matthew Scott, 24, and 44-year-old Matthew Payne, a grandfather.

Scott - father to a two-year-old child - was a time-served engineer who had lost his job because of a "chronic" cocaine addiction.

It was a drug, said Mr Hudson, which "destroys, kills, gets people into debt, causes destruction". He added: "Money is the root of all evil but this (cocaine) cannot be far behind."

Payne, whose mother and sister attended court, also had a "chronic cocaine addiction". He had been unemployed for almost a decade before becoming Sutherland's "lieutenant".

"A grandfather should simply say no. He rose to the bait," said Mr Hudson.

Daniel Shield, 26, ran a "successful" roofing business having progressed through the firm of his grandfather, who had written an "extremely moving" letter to the court.

Ian McMeekin, defending Shield, whose child had been born while he was in custody, said: "The devastation this has caused to his grandfather is something the defendant can barely bear."

Recorder Bromley-Davenport observed that a "striking feature" of the case was that none of the seven men had been heavily involved with drugs in the past.