A GANG of gay Jamaican gangsters who spread the tentacles of their evil drug-dealing ring to York have been warned they face substantial prison sentences.

The five-man operation sold thousands of pounds worth of crack cocaine from a terraced home in Clifton and a string of addresses rented under false names in Chapeltown, Leeds, a court heard.

Disabled Ainsley Rease, 41, who was described as a "shop keeper" for the gang, admitted selling drugs from a house in Newborough Street, York, where police saw as many as 39 visitors in only one day.

Three months later he was seen again serving customers at crack dens in Leeds, on one occasion telling an undercover cop posing as an addict that he had sold out and he should come back later.

Rease, who told police during a raid that he was just visiting for gay sex, could now face deportation back to Jamaica, despite pleas that gays face persecution and violence in that country.

At Leeds Crown Court, Judge James Barry told the gang that there was no doubt that they faced substantial prison terms when they return next week for sentencing.

Two of Rease's Clifton accomplices, addicts Wayne Coxon and Rebecca Turner, who acted as "doorkeepers", were jailed in July. Turner, who was 22, hanged herself in prison 24 hours later.

The court heard yesterday that the gang was led by a violent Jamaican named Glenford Adams, 32, of Leeds, whose life had spiralled in to drugs and crime since he learned he was HIV positive.

He used Rease as one of a number of "foot soldiers" to front lucrative crack dealing businesses in the city. The Clifton address was rented by Wayne Coxon.

While police watched the Newborough Street home they saw almost 200 people visit in less than a week and a raid on July 31 last year found knives, cling film and pipes with traces of cocaine on them.

Rease was arrested and £600 cash was found in a sock stuffed in his underpants, said prosecutor Andrew Stubbs. When he had been stopped by police earlier that month he had been carrying £500 cash.

He was released on bail, but Mr Stubbs said officers then spotted him at a number of addresses in Chapelfields that were under surveillance.

He was arrested a second time during a raid in which crack cocaine, a machete and several large knives were found, and remanded in custody.

Paul Williams, who represented Rease, said his client came to this country seeking asylum from Jamaica where he had been persecuted for his sexuality.

The five men are expected to be sentenced next week.

Updated: 10:59 Saturday, December 04, 2004