A YORK couple and their 25-year-old son have been jailed for almost 30 years after police uncovered their heroin supply business.

Coralena Smith, 47, and her husband Percy, also 47, operated from their static caravan on the Water Lane site, but were given 12-year prison sentences on Monday after a jury found them guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

The couple's son Nathaniel, who lived in a caravan next door, was jailed for five years after also being convicted of the conspiracy charge which covered a period between August and November 2016.

Two other co-conspirators Mark Ella, 43, of Union Terrace, York, and Hannah Kirby, 36, of Robinson Court, York, were jailed for six years each after they were found guilty at the end of a five-week trial at Bradford Crown Court on Friday.

Prosecutor Gerald Hendron said a surveillance operation led police officers to search various locations and recover a quarter of a kilo of heroin, later linked to Coralena Smith and her son Nathaniel by DNA.

He said Coralena Smith, who was subject to a suspended prison sentence for benefit fraud at the time, played a leading role in the conspiracy.

The court heard her husband Percy was jailed for three years in 2012 for conspiracy to supply heroin, and Judge Robert Bartfield suggested that was the reason his wife took a leading role in the latest offending.

He told Percy Smith: "When you left prison in 2014 within two years you had made the decision to resume the business.

"You were to stay in the background but I have no doubt you had a role in directing operations."

The court heard the conspiracy involved the supply of heroin, usually a quarter of an ounce, to others who would then sell the drug to addicts on the streets of York.

During the police searches officers found £67,000 in cash at the home of Coralena Smith's mother and Judge Bartfield said this was clearly the proceeds from the heroin dealing.

The couple were both found guilty of possessing criminal property in relation to the seized cash.

Judge Bartfield said the "very discreet business" would never have been discovered had it not been for the surveillance work by the police, and he told the Smith family members they had been prepared to make money from the pain and degradation drugs caused for addicts and their families.

"That's why this is such a serious offence," said the judge.

"It wrecks families. It wrecks people."

The judge concluded the conspiracy had involved at least a kilo of heroin being supplied to street dealers and then addicts.

The Smiths will face a Proceeds of Crime hearing later this year, and Mr Hendron said an application could be made within weeks for a Serious Crime Prevention Order.

He told the judge: "The Crown submit there is an organised crime group and it is necessary and proportionate to curtail their activities upon release."

A sixth defendant James Ramsey, 31, of Flaxley Road, Selby, pleaded guilty to a similar conspiracy charge on the basis that he had acted as a courier on one occasion for someone else in return for a wrap of heroin.

He was sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to do 150 hours unpaid work.

Ramsey must also comply with a six-month drug rehabilitation requirement.

Detective Inspector Nichola Holden, of North Yorkshire Police, said the investigation involved "months of detailed surveillance by the Organised Crime Unit", into the Smith family and associated dealers and runners.

Det Insp Holden said: "The hours of detailed investigation carried out by numerous officers and the joint working with the City of York Council, to bring the offenders and their associates to justice, demonstrates the sheer determination of North Yorkshire Police and our partner agencies to stamp out drug dealing in the city.".

Three people charged in connection with the conspiracy were cleared: Keith Bellingham, 51, and Daniel Patrick Baxter, 52, both of Wilberforce Avenue, Clifton, and a teenager who was 17 when he was charged.