A DRUG dealer and restaurant owner who used another man as a "modern day slave" has been jailed for eight and a half years.

Syed Juhed Miah, 48, formerly in charge of The Mogul restaurant in York city centre was caught with cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy worth nearly £19,000, Leeds Crown Court heard.

With him on the first occasion police arrested him was Roy Ernest Colsell, 64, who lived in an annexe of his house in Tennant Road, Acomb.

The court heard Colsell has low intelligence and is easily led.

Judge Rodney Jameson QC told Miah: "You kept him, I am tempted to say, as a pet, but more like a modern day slave.

"You exploited him to do your dirty work for you and then disgracefully in the trial tried to pin the blame for what you had done on him."

He jailed Miah for eight and a half years. Miah had denied six charges of possessing cannabis, ecstasy and cocaine with intent to supply to others committed in May 2013 and one of possessing cannabis with intent to supply to others in May 2015, but was convicted by a jury at York Crown Court last month. The last offence was committed while on bail awaiting trial for the earlier offences.

"This was a substantial cannabis supply operation... (with) a significant line in Category A drugs," the judge said.

Reginald Bosomworth, prosecuting, said the total value of the drugs was £17,308 in cannabis, mostly skunk cannabis, £898 in cocaine and £425 in ecstasy. Most was found in cars owned or rented by Miah, including a Toyota both men were in when they were arrested on May 25, 2013, but £4,227 of the cannabis was kept in the Miah family's freezer.

The judge said Miah and his family had lived a "comfortable" lifestyle and Miah may have changed from the food trade to drug dealing after he was convicted of food hygiene offences at the restaurant because drug dealing was a "less well regulated trade".

City of York Council prosecuted Miah for dirty conditions at his restaurant and selling cheaper gin as Gordon's Gin some years ago.

His barrister Charles Blatchford said he had brought shame on his family who would suffer through his imprisonment. They may have to leave their home.

Colsell denied the six 2013 drug offences and was convicted by the same jury. He was not involved in the 2015 offence. He was given a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years on condition he does two years' supervision and 200 hours' unpaid work.

The judge said he wasn't as stupid as he liked to pretend to others and he had known what he was doing was wrong, but his was an "exceptional" case.

Colsell had not seen himself as a "slave" but had genuinely thought he had been indebted to Miah for past kindnesses. The jury heard he regarded Miah as his best friend.

His barrister Eleanor Fry said he had found himself in very difficult circumstances and may have accommodation problems following the case. He had continued to live at the Miah house while Miah had been in prison between his second arrest in May 2015 and the trial.