A TEESSIDE haulier has been jailed for smuggling drugs.

David John Wilson, 39, who has transported stage equipment for pop superstars including the Spice Girls, was sentenced to eight years in jail at Canterbury Crown Court, for smuggling 127 kilos of Ecstasy with a street value of approximately £4,270,000.

Wilson's counsel told the court he had been forced to bring his cargo of narcotics into Britain at gun point by a gang of "vicious, serious and professional criminals'' who blamed him for tipping off Customs and Excise over a £750,000 contraband cargo of tobacco.

Aidan Marron QC, defending, said: "He was threatened with a sawn-off shotgun. He feared a loss of life if he did not obey their orders.''

But Judge Adele Williams told him: "Ecstasy is a dangerous and illegal drug. The consequences of young people taking the drug are well known.''

Wilson was intercepted by Customs officers driving a rental truck at Dover Docks in June. The drugs were found in four boxes among a cargo of stage equipment. He had arrived from Holland via Calais.

His company, which has since gone bankrupt, had been transporting equipment on a European tour of a pop band called The Cranberries.

The court was told that Wilson's girlfriend has left him taking the couple's young child with her.