Tommy Quick, DJ and promoter. and Manoucehr Bahmanzade, owner of Plymouth's Dance Academy, were targeted by a police operation that led to their incarceration under laws originally drafted to tackle crackhouses.

Their problems began when police raided the club on a busy Saturday night.

"The crowd cheered at first," recalled Tommy.

"I guess because they thought the DJ had cocked up."

"Then there was this massive stampede and a swarm of police in yellow coats and full riot gear arrived -- with helmets and shields, everything."

"They came in both sides of the club and basically surrounded the dance floor."

"Then they herded everyone like sheep into a circle in the middle."

"And that's when it started to kick off a bit."

Clubbers in posession of drugs were invited to put them into amnesty boxes so that no further action would be taken against them.

Eight dealers in total were arrested that night -- but so were Quick and Bahmanzade.

After two years, the two were tried and convicted of allowing drug dealing and consumption on the club premises.

Quick received a five-year sentence, while Bahmanzade was given a nine-year jail sentence -- far harsher than the punishments meted out to the dealers arrested on the same night.

Neither had ever been implicated in the sale of a single pill -- in fact, several dealers had been reported to the police by the Dance Academy and the owner had even offered to pay for policemen to stand outside the venue.

Matters weren't helped by the fact that the judge and prosecution were clearly out of touch with the realities of clubbing in the modern age.

"At some points in court it got comical," said Carl Eve, crime reporter for the Plymouth Herald.

"[The judge] kind of half-laughed and said ‘You could have changed the music to Strictly Come Dancing or maybe line dancing -– something that isn't associated with drugs to attract a different crowd.'"

"That was kind of how far they were teasingly saying they expected Tom and Manoucehr to go."

"They implied that they'd have accepted that as doing enough."

Quick feels wounded by the fact that there was no evidence linking him explicitly or implicitly with the dealing taking place in the club -- especially as he'd clamped down on his own friends when he was manager of the venue.

"There wasn't a single shred of evidence that I was involved with the dealers that ruined the club and my life, but I've still gone down." he said.

"It hurts me that I've been found guilty and it hurts me even more that as resident DJ and promoter they could find me responsible."

"I never allowed anyone to sell or pass a tablet at any time."

"When I was manager I arrested friends who were caught with pills, which is a difficult thing to do but I had to do it."

Mixmag, the long-running dance music magazine, has launched a campaign to free the 'Plymouth Two' and also warn other promoters who risk prosecution.

"Other club owners, promoters and fellow DJs for God's sake, please be careful," said Quick.

"Make sure what happens to me doesn't happen to you."

"They need to know that Big Brother is coming to ruin the night time economy."