A man who attacked two brave PCSOs with a mallet when they busted the DVD rental store he was running as a commercial drugs den has been locked up for five and a half years.

Shopkeeper Arsam Ali’s main income came from selling cannabis from the business and using his premises to bag up cocaine, Bradford Crown Court heard.

When PCSOs Jonathan Smith and Nicholas Whitcombe investigated the Baseline store, on Allerton Road, Bradford, late at night, 19-year-old Ali went for them with a mallet.

His three accomplices overpowered the PCSOs and escaped with the substantial drugs stash.

Sentencing Ali, of Chapel Lane, Allerton, today, the Recorder of Bradford, Judge Roger Thomas QC, praised the bravery of the officers who confronted the drugs gang in the small, dark shop.

Judge Thomas said Ali had “quite blatantly” sought to minimise what he had done by saying he rented out his shop to unknown drug dealers that night.

Although it could not be proved that Ali leased the premises on March 1 last year deliberately to use it as a drugs front, he was making £100 a week from selling cannabis from it.

On May 31, the PCSOs smelled cannabis from the shuttered shop after 11pm.

They caught two men red-handed on the unlit premises with bags of cocaine.

Ali and another man turned up and when one of the officers went to pick up a £5,000 block of cocaine from behind the counter, Ali went for them both with the mallet.

The three other men escaped after overpowering the officers in a violent struggle that spilled on to the street.

Judge Thomas said Ali was trying to protect “a substantial amount of cocaine” that was never recovered.

The officers described the weight of the drugs as like two bags of sugar.

One of them, PCSO Smith, said Ali took a hammer or mallet from behind the shop counter and swung it at him.

The other three men then threw punches at the officers who were trying to block their escape.

Ali pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, possession of cannabis with intent to supply and affray.

He was also sentenced for the gang robbery of a 15-year-old schoolboy in March 2011.

His barrister, James Bourne-Arton, said there was no evidence that Ali was dealing in cocaine and his cannabis trade was small-scale. He had shown enterprise in setting up his DVD and video rental shop and could reflect in custody on how to run a legitimate business when he was released.

After the case, Sergeant Al Milner said: “PCSOs Jonathan Smith and Nicholas Whitcombe showed great bravery after they were attacked by Ali and the determination they showed in ensuring his arrest was commendable.”