Two men, locked up for running heroin between Reading and South Wales, have been told by top judges that they cannot complain about their jail terms.

Dominic Eugene Isaacs and Damien Cadogan were sentenced at Reading Crown Court in April last year for their roles in a plot to supply the class A drug - uncovered following an undercover police operation.

Isaacs, 23, of Aberthaw Drive, Newport, was jailed for nine years after being found guilty of conspiracy to supply heroin, while 30-year-old Cadogan, of Oak Green, Reading, was jailed for 10 after being convicted of the same charge and possessing a firearm.

Both men challenged their sentences at London's Criminal Appeal Court, with their lawyers arguing they were over the top for their crimes.

But their appeals were dismissed by three of the country's most senior judges, who said all of those involved in the plot could consider themselves 'lucky' not to have been handed even tougher sentences.

The judges also dismissed an appeal by Cadogan against his convictions, saying there was nothing to undermine the jury's verdicts.

The court heard the six-strong drug running gang were kept under police surveillance and officers eventually stopped Isaacs and three accomplices at a service station on the M4 in February 2011, as they were en route to Wales from Reading.

A package containing 500g of heroin, with a street value of about £75,000, was found in the car.

The drugs had been collected from Cadogan's home in Reading - where they were being stored - earlier that day and police later recovered a handgun from his garden.

Lawyers acting for Cadogan argued he did not receive a fair trial because he was tried alongside other conspirators and there was evidence from some of them that was 'highly prejudicial' to his case.

But his appeal was dismissed, with Lady Justice Hallett saying there were 'compelling reasons' for the men to be tried together and that the convictions were 'safe'.

Both men challenged their jail terms, with their lawyers arguing they were 'too long' for their roles in the plot.

But, dismissing each of their appeals, Lady Justice Hallett said the trial judge was best placed to decide the part played by each member of the gang and that he did so in 'painstaking' detail.

Sitting with Mr Justice Saunders and Judge Martyn Zeidman QC, she added: "Given the number of trips and the quantity of drugs involved, some may think that all of those involved were lucky the judge placed their offending in the category that he did."