They were all sentenced at Cork circuit criminal court yesterday

35-year-old was one of three arrested after Naval officers stormed yacht

A cocaine smuggler who was caught crossing the Atlantic with £200million of drugs got so hungry on the trip he started snorting part of the one-tonne haul.

Benjamin Mellor ripped open one of the 41 bales of cocaine after food ran out and he broke his wrist, Cork circuit criminal court heard.

The 35-year-old window cleaner, from Bradford, was one of three Brits who were arrested after Naval officers stormed the yacht 200 miles off the south-west coast of Ireland in September.

Irish Navy personnel stand guard behind the mountain of cocaine that was found on the yacht Makayabella

He was jailed for eight years yesterday after admitting drug trafficking and importation.

Thomas Britteon, 28, also received eight years for the same charges while John Powell, 70, was sentenced for 10.

The scheme began in 2013 when Powell took charge of the 62ft Makayabella in the Caribbean.

He sailed it for a year as a charter boat to provide a cover story before picking up the 1,025kg consignment of cocaine in Venezuela last August.

The 35-year-old window cleaner, from Bradford, was one of three men who were arrested after Naval officers stormed the yacht, pictured being brought into Cobh, 200 miles off the south-west coast of Ireland in September

A photo captures the moment Irish Navy ship LE Niamh approached the Makayabella

The yacht was taken to the Haulbowline naval base following the Navy operation before being searched

A map showing where the previous ship had to be rescued and where the smugglers carrying £200million of cocaine were intercepted

He was accompanied by Mellor, with both being paid £100,000 for the trip, and later by Britteon, from Grimsby, who was to receive £20,000.

But the plot started to unravel when another vessel, known as the Sea Breeze, had to be rescued in the Irish Sea after it ran out of fuel.

Irish authorities became suspicious at the large amount of food, diesel, cannabis and satellite phones found onboard.

The Makayabella was simultaneously reported to be floundering in the Atlantic, leading Irish and UK authorities to suspect that the Sea Breeze was attempting to rendezvous with the yacht.

Inspector Fergal Foley, a Garda investigator, said the Makayabella was in a grim state when they found it and was running out of drinking water.

He said: 'To be blunt, they were delighted to see the navy'.

Powell’s son Stephen, 48, from Guiseley, West Yorkshire, was a ‘major player’ in Britain’s drugs underworld and was the ‘main man’ behind the operation, the court was told.

He has already been sentenced to 16 years for conspiracy to import cocaine.

Both Mellor and Britteon were described as ‘simply hired help’.