A young Welsh rugby star and an "outstanding" Manchester fireman who teamed up to take part in a Class A drugs conspiracy this week asked top judges to cut their jail terms on appeal.

Former Wales Students international and Narberth back row forward, Lewis Wood, 26, helped to flood Pembrokeshire with large amounts of cocaine and ecstasy from Manchester.

Wood, of Ashdale Lane, Llangwm, teamed up with respected fireman, 37-year-old Martin Peter Flynn, who was stationed at Gorton, Manchester.

Flynn, of School Lane, Irlam, Salford, had become first a drug addict, then a dealer, due to suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), relating to the horrific scenes he had witnessed whilst carrying out his fire service duties.

Wood became Flynn's right-hand man in West Wales where he used former West Wales Diving Centre worker, Neil Thomas Walters, aged 37, and Philip White, 26, both of Havefordwest, to distribute the drugs and collect money.

In February last year at Swansea Crown Court, Flynn was given nine years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs, possession of cannabis with intent to supply and handling stolen goods.

Wood pleaded guilty to the drugs conspiracy and got seven years.

White got four and half years after pleading guilty to the conspiracy, while Walters was convicted and given four years.

On Wednesday, Flynn and Wood argued that their sentences were too long, before Lord Justice Stanley Burnton, Mr. Justice Treacy and Mrs. Justice Slade, at London's Criminal Appeals Court, while Walters asked for permission to appeal against his conviction.

The court heard that Flynn who had enjoyed an "outstanding career" as a trauma technician in the fire service, got sucked into the world of drug dealing after being traumatised when he attended an appalling traffic accident.

The crash on a Manchester motorway involved vehicles taking families on holiday to the city's airport and Flynn witnessed children and adults both dead and with "horrific" injuries.

Flynn turned to cocaine to assuage his feelings, became addicted, and dealers soon "got their hooks into him" when he started to owe money for drugs. They then hired him to sell drugs on their behalf, which led to the Welsh operation.

The court heard that it was difficult to assess the full amount of money involved. A drug dealer's list found hidden in a video recorder showed Flynn was owed £130,000 for drugs.

From September 2005 to April 2007, more than £37,000 was paid into Flynn's accounts in Wales.

Flynn's lawyers argued that his sentence should be cut because the amount of drugs he was found with was relatively small and in light of his previous "impeccable character."

But Lord Justice Burnton refused his appeal and said that the sentencing judge had been right to sentence him as he did, because the documentation and dealers lists found at his home implied that the size of the conspiracy was in fact much greater than the amount of drugs he was caught with initially suggested.

However, Wood's appeal was allowed and his sentence cut from seven years to six years.

The judge said: "Wood was in a different position to Flynn, operating at a lower level. The sentence passed in this case didn't reflect the differences in the criminality of the two."

Walters's application to appeal against conviction was refused.