A pupil wearing his school uniform was caught delivering a bag containing £6,000 of heroin from Bradford to Keighley.

Akhtar Hussain was travelling in a taxi which was stopped by drugs squad officers who had mounted a surveillance operation, Bradford Crown Court was told.

Hussain a pupil at Greenhead High School, Keighley, was only 16 when police intercepted the drugs run in April 2004.

Hussain, now 18, pleaded guilty in August to being part of a conspiracy to supply the Class A drug.

His sentencing yesterday can be reported after Judge Peter Benson lifted legal restrictions on the case.

The teenager, of Coronation Way, Braithwaite, Keighley, who works as a waiter and lives with his girlfriend and baby, said he became involved in the drugs operation after seeking help from older people because he was being bullied at school.

He was given a 12-month community rehabilitation order with a condition that he do 100 hours community service work after Judge Benson accepted the prosecution's account of his limited role in the conspiracy.

Sentencing Hussain, the judge told him: "It seemed to me when I came into court that the only thing that could happen to you was a sentence of custody, but the prosecution has fairly put the case against you on a limited basis and conceded the fact that you were a young man who was 15 when these matters started.

"You were used by older people to assist them in carrying heroin between Bradford and Keighley.

"On the occasion that you were arrested with the bag of heroin in the taxi you were still wearing your school uniform.

"You got involved because you were subjected to bullying at school and when you sought help they saw an opportunity to exploit you and your age."

Prosecutor Adrian Dent said Hussain's young age meant he would have fallen under less suspicion than other people as he transported drugs.

The police operation began in late 2003 and by April, 2004 it had uncovered a drugs supply chain encompassing Oldham, Leeds, Bradford and Keighley.

Last month father-of-three Javeed Akhtar, 54, of Oakwood Lane, Leeds, and 49-year-old taxi driver Pavinder Panesar, of Montagu Avenue, Leeds, were jailed for their part in the conspiracy but their sentences could not be reported at the time.

Akhtar, who was said to have brought drugs from Leeds to Bradford on four occasions, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in jail while Panesar, who acted as his driver, received a three-and-a-half year prison term.

When police searched Panesar's garage they found half a kilo of heroin valued at £15,000 which he said Akhtar had asked him to store.

A third man, Mohammed Rehman, 27, of Wren Street, Lawkholme, Keighley, was jailed for five years yesterday after he admitted being part of the conspiracy.

He accepted organising the transportation of heroin from Bradford to Keighley, but claimed that he had been put under pressure by others involved in distributing the drugs.

Rehman was involved in the drugs run when Hussain was arrested in the taxi and on other occasions as well.

Judge Benson accepted that Rehman was not one of the sophisticated masterminds controlling the operation, but he said he had still played an important role.

Two other men have still to be sentenced for their parts in the conspiracy.