THE man behind the biggest drugs operation ever uncovered in Dorset is appealing against a 25-year prison sentence.

Hussein Tourh was given one of the longest jail terms ever handed down at Bournemouth Crown Court after being convicted in December last year.

Now he hopes to get the sentence reduced and is waiting for a hearing date at the Court of Appeal in London.

A spokesman for the court confirmed the appeal had been lodged but said a court hearing has yet to be fixed.

Tourh, now 25, formerly of Ashford Road, Boscombe East, groaned and buckled in the dock when Judge Roger Jarvis sentenced him.

Members of his family shouted “Don’t worry, we’ll appeal” as he was led into custody.

Tourh, a father of two and former Portchester School pupil, was convicted after a six-week trial, during which jurors heard he dealt in millions of pounds worth of deadly cocaine, amphetamine, cannabis and ecstasy.

The court heard £1.8 million in cash was found in the loft of one of his homes, a large, detached property in Southwood Avenue, Southbourne.

He denied possessing cocaine, conspiring to supply cocaine, amphetamine, ecstasy and cannabis, and possessing criminal property.

And he told the jury he was forced into crime by violence and threats.

But his defence was rejected and Judge Jarvis told him: “The jury has rejected duress as the cause. “Without any other true explanation for your role, you are a major organiser of wholesale distribution of drugs in this country.”