A WALTHAM Abbey man who was part of a million pound drug smuggling ring has narrowly escaped having his 10-year prison sentence lengthened after it was deemed too lenient by the Attorney General.

Justin Bird, 39, of Valley Close, Waltham Abbey, was arrested at Bluewater Shopping Centre in August 2006 after he was seen going into a metal shipping container used to store 855,000 ecstasy tablets and nearly 15kg of cocaine, worth £200,000.

In what turned out to be the biggest drugs haul in Essex's history, a further 9,800 pills and 35g of cocaine were found in his car, and a search of his home yielded £50,000 in cash and small amounts of the drugs.

In January, Bird was sentenced to 10 years, along with accomplice Jamie Droy, 31, of Barnsbury Park, Islington, who recieved seven years and "Top dog" George Stokes, 62, who was caged for 16 years.

The three cases were referred to the Court of Appeal on Wednesday by Attorney General, Baroness Scotland QC.

Although the appeal judges felt that Stokes had recieved too lenient a sentence, and bumped his term up to 20 years, Bird and Droy escaped any further penalty but were ordered to do their original terms.

The sentence was welcomed by the Crown Prosecution Service.

A CPS spokesman said: “The Crown Prosecution Service follows a strict code which means we cannot pursue a case unless we are confident that there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction.

"Being confident in the original conviction we were pleased this has been upheld and this case has come to a positive conclusion.

"The decision by the Court of Appeal confirms the safety of Bird’s convictions.”