TWO Bromsgrove men, jailed for taking part in a plot to smuggle millions of pounds worth of cannabis and cocaine into the UK, have appealed against their convictions at London's Court of Appeal.

Carl Platten, of McConnell Close, Aston Fields, Bromsgrove, was found guilty at Worcester Crown Court of conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to supply cannabis in March last year. He was jailed for nine years.

The 24-year-old's barrister, Ian Winter, argued the trial judge had wrongly allowed evidence of conversations which took place between those involved in the plot to be put before the jury.

Mr Winter told three judges that was unfair as Platten wasn't present when the conversations took place.

Two of the men jailed with Platten - Martin 'George' Formby, of Shrubbery Road, Bromsgrove, and Stephen Shannon, of Shelfield Close, Coventry - also challenged their sentences.

Formby, 38, got 14 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cannabis and conspiracy to supply cocaine, while Shannon received 16 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cannabis, conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to supply amphetamines.

Mr Winter, who also represented Shannon, argued he got too long after wrongly being branded Formby's "right hand man" by the judge.

The barrister said the 41-year-old did not play a particularly vital role in the conspiracy, and had none of the wealth usually associated with drug dealers.

The court heard how pub landlord Formby, whose wife Gayle received seven years for her role in the plot, smuggled tons of cannabis into the UK and then switched to smuggling cocaine.

It was alleged that Platten used his job as a logistics manager at Coventry Airport to track shipments, but he said he thought he was looking out for a bona fide delivery.

Recognising the importance of the case, Lord Justice Waller, sitting with Mr Justice Gray and Mrs Justice Cox, reserved his decision until a later, unspecified, date.