UNTIL a couple of games ago, Hull City would have been looking forward to December.

But successive defeats at Southampton and at home to Crystal Palace have put a bit of a downer on things.

This is the first of seven Premier League matches before we see in 2014.

Four of those are at the KC Stadium against Liverpool, Stoke, Manchester United and Fulham.

Points are definitely there to be collected against Stoke and Fulham, and anything else from Liverpool and United would be a bonus. Away from home, City travel to Arsenal, Swansea and West Brom, which doesn't make things any easier.

If City picked up 10 or 12 points before facing Liverpool again at Anfield, then I think Steve Bruce would be a very happy man.

Last week against Palace was a game City were expected to win, but they didn't. The players have had to stew on that defeat and performance all week and hopefully we'll see a spirited response on Sunday.

The good thing about this time of the season is that games come thick and fast. Therefore, you won't have long to dwell on a defeat before the next game comes along.

Hopefully there won't be too many losses, but December hasn't been kind to us in the past in the Premier League, with just a 2-1 win over Middlesbrough all we have to show in 10 games.

This is the part of the season where you get your head down and pick up as many points as you can.

This is where your squad is tested with injury and suspension.

We might get to see Gedo feature more after he scored for Egypt against Ghana in the World Cup qualifier.

He came off the bench against Palace, but he didn't do enough for me to merit a place in the starting XI.

Looking at the last couple of matches, Yannick Sagbo could do with a bit of help up front.

We could do with that being Robbie Brady, but he needs to prove to Bruce he's up to it.

We haven't been taking our chances, and that will have to change if the Tigers are to pull away from the relegation zone.

A MUM has been allowed to hold her newborn daughter again for the first time in a week as her baby battles cancer.

Helen Shaw had been unable to hold four-week-old Macie in her arms after the baby was diagnosed with neuroblastoma – a rare and aggressive form of cancer.

Now, nursing staff have allowed Helen to hold her baby girl once more as the infant undergoes her treatment.

Helen said: "When I got to hold Macie, it was just amazing.

"I was quite scared at first, what with all the tubes attached to her, but I cannot describe in words what it was like to hold her in my arms again.

"She is much more alert, considering all she has been through it is amazing she is awake as much as she is."

Macie is currently in intensive care at Leeds General Infirmary, although Helen and partner Mike are hoping she will be moved on to the oncology ward later today.

"She is off the ventilator now which is good, although she is being given oxygen to help her breathe," Helen said.

"She does look very yellow at the moment and she will have more tests this week to see if the cancer has spread to her liver.

"It is likely she will need more chemotherapy as well."

Since hearing Macie's story, more than 2,000 people have joined a Facebook page to support Helen and Mike.

The group was set up by family friend Jackie Beaumont, who has also arranged a fundraising day at the Priory Children's Centre on Saturday, December 14.

Jackie said: "Since people have heard about Macie, I have been inundated with fundraising ideas.

"Suggestions are coming out my ears – it is absolutely unbelievable."

As well as a charity bag pack at Asda in Mount Pleasant this Saturday, readers have contacted the Mail, wanting to help Macie.

Jackie said: "It has gone from having a small fundraising day with a few activities to a huge event.

"I cannot believe people's generosity.

"I would just like to thank everyone who has shown their support so far."

Hull-based charity Life For A Kid has also pledged to support Macie and her family by donating £500 to the cause.

The charity is also helping the west Hull family by allowing them to fundraise through Life For A Kid, meaning they will not need to organise their own charity number.

Helen and Mike, along with their two other children, Chloe and Charlie, have been amazed by the support they are receiving from the Hull public.

"We just can't begin to put into words how much this means to us," said Helen.

"We are so shocked at the generosity of people we don't even know wanting to help Macie. It's just incredible."

Helen and Mike are expecting to face this Christmas at Macie's bedside in Leeds.

Helen said: "It looks like we are going to be in hospital for Christmas.

"Chloe and Charlie are going to come up here and join us so we are all together – as long as we are all together, that's all that matters.

"The meaning of Christmas has totally changed for us this year."

The family have also chosen to donate some of the money raised to the charity Candlelighters and the intensive care ward at Leeds General Infirmary.

Helen said: "The care we have received has been amazing and we cannot even begin to thank the staff enough but hopefully the money will help families like us in the future."

People wishing to donate to Macie's fun can visit www.gofundme.com/5b95ug where more information is available about how to donate.

People are also encouraged to join the Macie Facebook page to share their fundraising ideas.

MORE than £5,000 of heroin was found stuffed in rucksacks and hidden in the toilet of a Hull home, a court heard.

Four people accused of being part of a "major drug-dealing network" are on trial after two houses in Swinderby Garth, Bransholme and Mullion Close, east Hull, were raided by police.

Edward Badago, 35, Adrian Owen, 32, and Jolene Thompson-Carney, 31, deny conspiring together to supply thousands of pounds of heroin across the city every day. Mr Badago's wife, Lisa, 23, denies two charges of money laundering offences totalling £26,000.

A further two defendants, Robert Jackson, 30 and Ian Smalley, 43, have pleaded guilty for being concerned in the supply of heroin.

At Hull Crown Court, prosecutorPatrick Palmer told a jury how officers found 110g of the Class A drug stashed in three rucksacks in the downstairs toilet of a house in Swinderby Garth, alleged to have been used as a "safe house" for the drug operation. A "small" cannabis factory and bags of cash were also found in the kitchen.

Mr Owen was in the house with a woman at the time.

His fingerprints were found on a mobile phone, which was found in the rucksack holding the heroin, along with sealable plastic bags and digital scales which had traces of heroin on them.

Text messages from an "ASexy" had been sent to the seized phone, which the prosecution believe belonged to Mr Owen, who is also known as "Ado".

Another raid was carried out at Mullion Close, where Ms Thompson-Carney was with Smalley and Jackson.

There, police also found £8,650 stuffed behind the stereo, and digital scales with traces of heroin and cannabis.

One message found on a phone seized from Mullion Close said: "All I have done is walk about doing my own thing and I am selling bags mad. It just goes to show it sells itself."

Detective Constable Stuart Russell, of Humberside Police's serious organised crime division, said the "bags" referred to 0.2g heroin deals worth £10 on the street.

DC Russell said: "The author of this text is dealing heroin. Unfortunately, the demand nowadays is very high. I have inferred from this it was easy for this dealer to sell the drug."

Accounts scrawled on notepads detailing the "stock flow" of heroin and the names of 41 dealers, showed how scores of people were coming to Mullion Close, each buying hundreds of pounds of heroin every day, and selling it on the street.

Police cross-referenced the dealer list names to contacts stored in the memory of the seized mobile phones.

The phone police believe belongs to Mr Owen, held five dealers' names, while a phone taken from Ms Thompson-Carney's pocket during the Mullion Close raid had six.

Two days before the raid, a message had been sent from the phone found in Ms Thompson-Carney's pocket saying: "No, do it at 25-past because Ado might come for the paperwork."

Mr Russell said: "To the uneducated eye, this could mean anything but, in this context, paperwork relates to drug money.

"Plus, two days after this text was sent, there was a house raid where a significant amount of cash was seized."

Mr Badago was arrested during a third raid at High Park Country Park in Routh, East Riding, where £73,000 cash was stuffed in designer handbags, suitcases and sports bags.

The trial continues.

LEE Radford says his Hull FC side will pack a punch up front next season after taking his squad for boxing training.

The new Hull coach, who himself has had a series of high-profile boxing matches, has teamed up with East Hull ABC as part of FC's pre-season preparations.

Putting the players through physically demanding boxing work-out sessions, Radford has hailed the initiative as a great success so far.

And with his new recruit Iafeta Paleaaesina joining his team-mates for the latest session, Radford says the arrival of the impact prop will help replace the physicality lost when Mark O'Meley headed home at the end of last season.

"The boxing training has gone really well and the boys seem to be enjoying doing something different, albeit something that's very tough," Radford told the Mail.

"It gives us a bit of variety in a very long pre-season, it's also great conditioning for the players because it's a different sort of training that doesn't require putting even more miles in their legs. We don't want to burn their legs out with running all the time and this is as tough as it comes but offers a different kind of training. It's been fun."

For Paleaaesina, the boxing training is old hat.

The 31-year-old Kiwi has spent the past two months training with professional boxer and former rugby league player Monty Betham at his gym in New Zealand.

Shedding over two stones, the former Wigan Warriors prop has reported for training in a condition which has delighted Radford.

And the Hull coach says the objective now is putting weight back on Paleaaesina, rather than taking it off.

"Feka is in fantastic condition and we are really happy with how he's arrived at the club.

"You can see from the shape he's joined us in he's worked hard back at home," added Radford. "I played against him when he was at Salford and he was so out of shape it was untrue, but he's lost so much weight and is in fantastic condition.

"If anything, he's actually too light now, and we need to put a little bit of weight back on him.

"He knows this is a massive chance for him, and you can see that in the way he's approached training because he's got a big spring in his step and he's a great guy to have around the place."

While Paleaaesina has been impressing, both on the training field and with his boxing gloves on, Radford says not all of his squad are cut out for life inside the ring.

While not wishing to name names, one or two of his squad have failed to take their rugby skills into boxing like a number of Super League players have of late.

"There's some not best suited, but we've a few who can really box," added Radford.

"The point is it's good fun and we are getting a lot from it."

Arriving at my local supermarket for my usual bottle of milk and a Kit Kat, I was met by a wall of people who had apparently heard there was an imminent apocalypse.

Battling through the equivalent of a small tsunami, I eventually found a trolley and, at a somewhat shuffling pace, entered the store, only to find that it was twice as bad inside and there was literally nothing left on the shelves.

Then I realised that, despite it being 7am, these shoppers were preparing for the biggest event of the year – Christmas.

Like a plague of biblical locusts, they had swooped down on the trimmings aisle before, hunter-gatherer style, seeking the turkey crowns and matching cranberry sauce. Children's toys were rapidly sucked into the shopping equivalent of a black hole, wrapping paper was decimated (only One Direction rolls were left), while the wobbly Father Christmas models disappeared faster than if on a David Copperfield show.

Clutching my meagre shopping, I felt that overwhelming sense of panic that is only experienced by "those who have not bought their presents yet" because I have not sought out, purchased or dared to wrap anything.

It used to be, long ago when £3 per pressie was acceptable, that a pair of monogrammed handkerchiefs and a bath cube (usually from Boyes) was enough to raise a smile on my mum's face.

The children, when small, were content with a fluffy toy, pair of pyjamas and a selection box, topped off with an annual.

As a non-money giver (I like to buy presents that I think represent the people I am buying for), I usually have my gifts sourced and secured by the end of September, but this year, I am really struggling.

Partly because the only things in my purse are a curtain ring, a postage stamp and a shredded tissue but, in reality, I haven't got a clue what to buy!

I tentatively suggested to my mum that I buy a well or a goat to send to some poor family, but the idea was met with a stony silence.

I suggested I buy her a companion, perhaps a small dog for company (although I don't really believe in giving animals as presents), but the only response was a look that Medusa would have envied.

I asked my husband what he would like this year but, being a Yorkshire man, I got the non-committal shrug followed by the "don't need nowt" phrase, which translates into "I haven't got a clue as I'm relying on you to think of something good".

I contemplated not actually getting him anything (serve him right), although I know I would feel guilty for a long time.

Several people have asked me what I would like. After world peace, the mortgage paid off and a night with Ryan Reynolds, I really cannot think of anything, other than the usual expensive perfume or an Android tablet (hint, hint).

Actually, I am happy with anything. Roll on Christmas.

THE chief executive of Crystal Palace has apologised to two disabled Hull pensioners who were attacked by the club's fans.

City supporters Marie and Bob Hatton were driving home after watching the two sides play with their nine-year-old great grandson Ben when the assault happened.

Mrs Hatton, 73, was pushed to the ground by a supporter of the London team and suffered a dislocated and shattered wrist, which doctors say will never fully heal.

Now, Crystal Palace chief executive Phil Alexander has apologised to the family on behalf of the club and joined forces with City to offer them VIP tickets for a KC Stadium game.

He said: "We were really disappointed to read about this.

"What was a good day out has been spoilt by two people who acted inappropriately. We pride ourselves on being a family club and this sort of thing doesn't do anyone any good.

"It's not what our football club is all about and it doesn't represent the behaviour of our supporters."

As they passed the disabled couple's BMW in post-match traffic in Anlaby Road, two young men pushed each other in the road.

Mr Hatton, 75, honked his horn at them and the pair responded violently, following their car as it moved slowly through the queue.

The pensioner, who suffers from arthritis and walks with a stick, said: "We don't know why they were stalking us. We don't know whether it was my City shirt or the stuffed tiger in our car.

"I've been going to football since I was seven or eight years old with my dad and I've never seen anything like it."

As their car travelled down the street, the two men – one about 25 and the other about 35 – continued to follow it, shouting abuse.

When Mr Hatton wound down his window to find out what the problem was, they swore at him.

The fans approached the car three times before the pensioners got out because they were afraid it would be damaged.

Mrs Hatton was pushed over and injured, and one of the attackers stole her husband's walking stick.

Other people saw what happened and chased after the pair, managing to recover Mr Hatton's walking stick and bringing it back to him.

Crystal Palace fans spoke of their shock at the attack on the Mail's Facebook page.

Danny Foley said: "As a Palace fan for over 45 years, I am disgusted and ashamed to read about this.

"I hope those responsible for this sick attack are dealt with very severely."

Jon Ellacott wrote: "This is a disgrace, as a Palace fan this is very concerning.

"Sorry to hear about this, and unfortunately, again, a mindless minority spoil it for the majority.

"This is a very unusual occurrence for Palace fans, especially in all the time I have been going.

"I hope this lady makes a very speedy recovery."

A man has been taken to hospital with multiple injuries after a two-car crash in North Frodingham.

The fire service used hydraulic cutting equipment to rescue the man who was trapped in the car after the crash which occurred shortly after 7pm on THursday.

An adult female in the other car suffered cuts and shock but did not go to hospital.

She managed to get out of her car without the fire service's help.

A BURGLAR ransacked a Hull home and then turned himself in to the police.

Ashley Irwin, 21, grinned as he was sent down for two-and-a-half years for burgling a man's home in east Hull, pulling out the contents of all the drawers in the cabinets.

Hours later, he went to a police station to confess and he was arrested.

Hull Crown Court heard Irwin broke into the house in Cyprus Street just 40 minutes after the owner had gone to York for a few days.

Prosecuting, Jhana Jobes said: "The complainant spent a lot of time in York. He checked on the house on June 28 and then, at midnight, he got a phone call from the police.

"When he arrived back from York a few days later, he saw the doors and windows had been smashed and the drawers had been searched.

"A Blackberry mobile had disappeared, as had compact discs.

"The defendant was arrested after he gave himself in."

Irwin also pleaded guilty to attempting to steal a car after his fingerprints were found on a leaflet inside the car of a supply teacher.

The steering mechanism was damaged, causing the car to be written off.

Mrs Jobes said: "It was clear an attempt had been made to take it away. The vehicle was a write-off and the owner got £80 from a scrap merchant for it. The original value of the car was £3,000.

"The owner was a supply teacher and had to turn down two jobs because of this."

Irwin has two previous convictions for burglary, including one he was sentenced to 21 months for last year.

Ms Wendy Foster, defending Irwin, asked for full credit for the early guilty plea.

Sending him to jail, Recorder David Bradshaw said: "You have a bad record, which includes two previous convictions for burglary. This is your third strike. If, when you come out, you commit further burglaries, your sentences will become longer and longer."

He was also ordered to pay £120 costs.

I have had a great response to my recent attempt to come up with 50 reasons why we are the next UK City of Culture.

Alternative suggestions continue to pour in like rain through a leaking roof, so thanks to one and all.

I have also managed to settle a few family rows.

One involved two parents arguing over whether my list was in the correct order, according to their own differing opinions on the subject.

The reality was that I came up with an entirely random selection, with the only concession to relative importance being William Wilberforce's unchallenged position at number one.

So, what's next?

Inspired by your continuing ideas, I think the time is ripe for an official anthem for 2017.

If we are going to celebrate reasons to be cultural, then I think we need not look any further than Ian Dury and the Blockheads for some musical inspiration.

So, keep their Reasons To Be Cheerful Part 3 hit in mind as you learn to get your tongue around this little lot.

Don't worry about slipping up or even adding an extra line or two of your own. It's all part of the fun.

After all, we have still got three years to come up with the definitive version!

Rugby-playing dockers, Big Lil Bilocca, King Billy's bogs and Reckitts Blue.

Wagstaff and Chilton, good old Ronnie Hilton, going on the ferry and Mr Chu's.

East Park deer, the view from Vicky Pier, shopping in Boyes and Barmy Drain.

Half-a-dozen breadcakes, flatter than a pancake, flooding when it rains.

Friday nights down Witham, pattie-slapping women, Tower for an hour and the ABC.

Norman's broken mic, a croggy on your bike, asking for scraps and the lure of the sea.

A tenfoot not an alley, the Northern Ballet, blue and white buses and Humber cars.

Maftin' when it's hot, swimming in the dock, getting very drunk in Old Town bars.

Bascule bridges, streets with empty fridges, Walton Street market and eating Carver's chips.

A dinosaur museum, Robinson Crusoe's dream, Paragon Station and lots of ships.

HMS Bounty, the Boulevard fountain, following the Fish Trail and knowing it's never dull.

City of Culture, it's going to be the future, no longer feeling nunty, this is Hull.

TRIBUTES have been laid at the spot where three people, including a mother and her teenage son, lost their lives in a horror crash.

A candle was left at the scene where a Ford Focus carrying five people to work at a bacon factory in Malton crashed with a Citroen Relay van, heading in the opposite direction.

A heart-shaped wreath of white roses and a cross of red roses had also been placed beside a hedge, scorched by the fire started after the crash.

Yesterday, North Yorkshire Police confirmed a 40-year-old woman, her 18-year-old son and another 47-year-old man, all passengers in the Ford Focus, were killed in the crash on the B1248 near Wetwang. All five people travelling in the car were Polish, living in Hull.

A 30-year-old man is still in a critical condition, fighting for his life at Hull Royal Infirmary, while a 37-year-old man is in the same hospital in a serious condition, suffering from multiple fractures.

Residents near the crash scene described the accident as devastating.

Jim Austin, who lives in Fimber, said: "This really is tragic and devastating.

"That stretch of road is very dangerous. My wife was forced off the road one year when a car coming the other way crossed into her lane."

Yesterday, a flag flew at half mast outside The Karro Food Group Ltd, the bacon factory where the three victims, who have not yet been formally identified, worked.

"Everyone here is devastated by the news and we continue to support our colleagues during this deeply distressing time," said Charles Pascall, HR director.

As work colleagues, family and friends grieve the loss of the three who have died, they are clinging to the hope the other two people from the Ford Focus survive.

Mr Pascall said: "At this difficult time, we're doing everything we can to support the families of our colleagues who were fatally and seriously injured in Wednesday's road accident as they were travelling to our Malton site for the start of their shift."

The driver of the Citroen van, a 48-year-old man from Pickering who was taken to York District Hospital, has since been discharged.

Police, who described the scene as one of the most distressing accidents they had ever dealt with, continue to investigate what happened.

The road, close to the border between North and East Yorkshire, was closed for nearly 11 hours on Wednesday as police recovered the casualties, the scene was examined and the vehicles recovered.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "Police are appealing for anyone who was travelling along the B1248 between Wetwang and Malton at around 6am on Wednesday and saw either of the vehicles prior to the collision or witnessed the crash to come forward.

"Anyone with information is asked to call North Yorkshire Police on 101 and pass information to the force control room. Please quote reference number 0052 of November 27."

On the Mail's Facebook page, people left messages expressing their sympathy to the victims of the crash.

Shelley Marie Harrison posted: "This is deeply sad. My thoughts are with the family."

Sue Gibbons Mayo wrote: "So sad, sincere sympathy with all the families concerned."

A Hull City fan has been banned from football matches after setting off a flare inside a stadium.

Adam Paul Morgan, 22, was arrested during the Tigers' 2-1 defeat at Everton last month.

He has now been given a football banning order, making it a crime for him to attend any match for three years.

He is also not allowed to go within one and a half miles of the KC Stadium four hours before kick-off and two hours afterwards.

PC Karl Corcoran, football liaison officer for Hull, said Morgan had been "stupid" letting off the flare inside Goodison Park.

"He is obviously a Hull City fan and has decided to support his team in this way, which is really sad," said PC Corcoran.

"Now he has been banned from watching his football team. The only place he can watch any football for the next three years is on the telly for as stupid a thing as setting off a flare.

"Hopefully, this will send a message to other supporters that they shouldn't take a flare to a match. It adds nothing to the atmosphere, there is no reason to do it.

"It is stupid and it doesn't make any sense."

Morgan has also been given a two- month prison sentence, suspended for a year, after he admitted possessing a firework/flare at a sporting event.

Police say the use of fireworks and flares at matches are on the rise and they are working with clubs and the Football Association to curb it.

PC Corcoran said: "It has been rising at matches across the country and we are trying our best to eradicate it, which is why we are taking a zero-tolerance approach.

"They do cause a risk of fire, they can cause fire, and it isn't pleasant for other supporters to have flares going off around them.

"It is illegal and we have a team approach to tackling it.

"Football stadiums now have really high-quality CCTV, so if you are silly enough to set off something you will have to face the consequences, including being banned from football."

The three-year banning order imposed at Liverpool's Community Justice Centre means Morgan is banned from attending any football match in the UK for three years.

He must also hand in his passport to police on dates when England are playing abroad.

PC Lee Lomax, of Merseyside Police, said: "Pyrotechnics, including smoke canisters and flares are extremely dangerous as they can burn at very high temperatures.

"The last place they should ever be used is in packed football stadiums. If the use of such devices continues it's only a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt. They also affect the enjoyment of the majority of genuine fans, especially younger ones.

"Bringing any pyrotechnic device into a football ground is a criminal offence."

HITMAN Maikell Ward has been moved to an annex in Doncaster prison amid fears for his safety.

The 42-year-old was to be paid £10,000 by Darren Wilson to lure painter and decorator Andrew Burr into an empty house on the pretence of business and kill him.

But he confessed all to the police, lifting the lid on Wilson and Dean Armstrong's criminal enterprise. He then gave "compelling" evidence at the trial, sealing Wilson's conviction.

Sentencing Ward to two years for conspiracy to murder and a consecutive 18-month sentence for cultivating cannabis, Judge Michael Mettyear said: "It was courageous to tell the police. I do not underestimate the personal danger into which you have put yourself.

"Your compelling evidence was responsible for convicting your co-conspirator."

DETECTIVES have told of their "race against time" to save a man's life after a murder plot was uncovered.

Darren Wilson, 46, and his brother Dean Armstrong, 40, have been jailed for a total of 20 years for a reign of terror in Hull.

As part of his 12-year sentence, loan shark Wilson was jailed for four years for conspiring to kill Andrew Burr, the husband of a woman with whom he had shared a one-night-stand.

The plot to kill Mr Burr, husband of Lisa Fairpo, only came to light when hitman, Maikell Ward, 42, confessed to police after a change of heart.

Judge Michael Mettyear said Wilson and Armstrong ran their criminal empire, which included drugs, money lending and conspiracy to commit murder and arson, like "underground gangsters".

And he praised Humberside Police for their "magnificent effort" to find Mr Burr, 37, and warn him of the threat to his life.

Outside Hull Crown Court, after the conspiracy gang had been sent to prison, Detective Sergeant Ian Dobson said: "We had no doubt Mr Burr's life was in jeopardy and now we have brought down an organised crime group that Wilson headed.

"It was a race against time that entailed working an extreme amount of hours. We spoke to witnesses, validated CCTV and analysed telephone calls in an extremely short space of time to work out who the intended victim was.

"Once we found out it was Mr Burr, we had to react quickly to warn him and carry out further arrests."

Ward, who was going to be paid £10,000 by Wilson to stab Mr Burr, only knew his intended victim was a painter and decorator.

Ms Fairpo, who was accused of being part of the conspiracy to claim her husband's life insurance, was acquitted of any involvement in the plot and Judge Mettyear concluded Wilson's motivation to kill Mr Burr was his feelings towards Ms Fairpo rather than financial gain.

Wilson was also sentenced to eight years for conspiring to commit arson with Armstrong, who was jailed for seven years.

The brothers ran an "ambitious cannabis cultivation enterprise", turning empty houses into cannabis factories through the letting agency Armstrong worked for.

For this, Wilson was given a four-year concurrent sentence and Armstrong, a one-year consecutive sentence, bringing his total to eight years. Wilson was also given another two years, also to run concurrently, for illegal money lending and laundering.

Determined to expand their empire, the brothers got an unknown henchman to petrol-bomb a house in Grove Street, west Hull, twice while tenant, Donna Nagi, and three others were asleep inside.

When Ms Nagi refused to move, Armstrong sent her a text message, saying: "Still alive but not for long. Going to kill you, you're going to burn."

Judge Mettyear said it was more "luck than judgement" no one was killed.

He said: "You saw there was much potential in this activity and you were keen to recruit others to play their part in what you planned. This was an ambitious and determined operation."

Jackson Nagee, 37, who grew cannabis for the brothers got 21 months while Michael Reid, 45, got 18 months for the same charge.

Det Sgt Dobson said: "They were very organised.

"They had infiltrated a letting company and each member of the group had their own skill set to make it work.

"Reid was very scientific in his knowledge of cannabis production, while Ward had been used by the brothers in the past.

"We worked hard and we are satisfied of the outcome. We hope this will give reassurance to communities in Hull."