HE was the mastermind behind a huge drugs network in Huddersfield.

But now a professional drug dealer is starting a prison sentence of more than seven years after a judge said he had left a trail of misery and harm in his wake.

Car dealer Steven Campbell stashed almost £94,000 worth of drugs at the Huddersfield home of single mum Stephanie Harmon in December 2010.

But police who were keeping him under surveillance raided the house in Harp Inge, Dalton, within hours and recovered the haul.

Bradford Crown Court heard that the seizure included around £17,000 worth of cocaine including some packages in a locked strong box which were 77% pure.

Prosecutor Richard Walters said officers also recovered £11,500 worth of M-Cat, a bag containing more than 15,000 so-called “pink cherub” tablets, a further 1.75 kilogrammes of the “pink cherub” drug worth over £26,000 and over 700 grammes of a bulking agent.

Judge John Potter said Campbell, who had served prison terms for wounding and robbery in the 1990s, had exploited others including 24-year-old mum Harmon who had been unaware of the type and quantity of drugs being left at her home.

Campbell, of Longley Lane, Lowerhouses, admitted charges of conspiracy to supply various Class A, B and C drugs between February 2010 and March 2011.

Mr Walters outlined details of incriminating text messages between Campbell and others including his former partner Harriett Sunderland, 26, of Tillotson Avenue, Sowerby Bridge, who acted as a “go-between” to arrange meetings with her brother Scott, 28, of Calder Grove, Mytholmroyd.

The court heard Scott Sunderland had played a significant role in supplying Class B and C drugs in bulk to others.

Mr Walters said officers investigating the conspiracies had identified as many as 28 pay-as-you-go phones attributable to Campbell and the court heard details of various drug meetings, some of which had been observed.

Police were also able to reconstruct meetings following the seizure and analysis of Harriett Sunderland’s mobile phone in March last year.

Campbell’s barrister Christopher Tehrani said his mother, a social worker, had done her best with her children, but after he left home at the age of 20 he went off the rails.

Mr Tehrani said his client got the wrong sort of education while in prison but after serving a long sentence he set up a car sales business which boomed until the recession in 2008.

“The defendant was aware of people from his past who were involved in drug dealing and foolishly, stupidly, in order to try and save his business and maintain his limited lifestyle he got involved in the drugs trade.”

Mr Tehrani said Campbell had a number of children and wanted to be back with them after his release to make sure they did not make the same mistakes he had.

Harmon’s barrister Yunus Valli said she had no previous convictions and was genuinely remorseful for her limited involvement.

“She bitterly regrets her momentary involvement in this case,” he added.

“What happened in December 2010 was truly a one-off incident in circumstances where she was used by others who were older than her and more sophisticated and streetwise than her.”

Judge Potter said Campbell was at the heart, or near to it, of the conspiracies and would have profited handsomely from the drugs trade.

“You Steven Campbell, in my judgement, deliberately exploited others and involved them in your activity,” the judge told him.

“Your activity can properly be described as professional drug dealing, leaving a trail of misery and harm in your wake.” The judge said he would have jailed Campbell for nine years following a trial, but because he had pleaded guilty to the charges he could reduce that sentence by a fifth to seven years and two months.

Harmon, who had no previous convictions, was given a 51-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, after she also admitted the conspiracy charges on the basis that she allowed the drugs to be left at her home.

She was also made the subject of a three-month electronically-monitored home curfew between 9pm and 7am and ordered to do 250 hours unpaid work.

Scott Sunderland, who admitted involvement in the Class B and C drug conspiracies, also received a 51-week prison sentence, suspended for two years.

He was given a two-month electronically-monitored home curfew and must also do 200 hours unpaid work.

His sister, who also had no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to similar offences and received the same sentence except she was not ordered to do any unpaid work.

POLICE inquiries into a Huddersfield drugs ring uncovered a double lifestyle.

Steven Campbell, the man behind the supply chain, pretended to be an honest car dealer.

But he was making huge amounts of money for dealing drugs including cocaine and M-cat, from his Lowerhouses home.

And detectives behind Operation Leland also traced Campbell on a “rap video”, which aired on You Tube, in which he appeared as a strange gangster figure known as The Ghost.

Campbell is seen wearing a white half-face mask and dancing to rap music in the “Huddersfield Bang Bang” film.

Shots in the film also includes images of huge piles of cash.

Det Insp Neil Hollis, of West Yorkshire Police’s Crime Division, said: “We welcome these sentences passed and hope they serve as a warning to others who think they can live outside the law and bring misery to local communities by dealing drugs.

“It’s clear from the evidence that Campbell was the leader of this criminal enterprise despite presenting himself as a car dealer.

“He did buy and sell the odd car, however this was merely a front to legitimise his drug dealing activities.

“He used his then girlfriend Harriet Sunderland and also Stephanie Harmon to store the drugs and broker deals for him in order to appear as a legitimate business man.

“Campbell is a negative role model and his prison sentence reflects the severity of his crimes and I hope will be some comfort to those people who have suffered at his hands.”

The four people appeared before Bradford Crown Court and heard their sentences after earlier pleading guilty to conspiring to supply Class A, B and C drugs including cocaine.

Campbell, 38, of Longley Lane, Lowerhouses, was sentenced to seven years and two months in prison.

Stephanie Harmon, 24, of Dalton, Huddersfield was sentenced to 51 weeks in prison suspended for two years and ordered to complete 250 hours of community service.

Harriett Sunderland, 26, of Sowerby Bridge, was sentenced to 51 weeks in prison suspended for two years.

Scott Sunderland, 28, of Sowerby Bridge, was sentenced to 51 weeks in prison suspended for two years and ordered to complete 200 hours of community service.

Under the operation codenamed Leland, officers from West Yorkshire Police’s Crime Division, from the Kirklees Division and also from Operations Support executed search warrants at 27 addresses across Kirklees and Calderdale over three days in March last year.

In total eight people were arrested for a range of offences including conspiracy to supply or possess class A, B and C drugs, money laundering and theft.

Two woman aged 29 and 30, and a 32-year-old man were released without charge following their arrest and an 18-year-old man was given a conditional discharge for possessing Class C controlled drugs.