A STREET drug dealer caught red-handed twice in a month has been jailed for more than four years.

Aqueedat Kazmi carried on selling heroin and crack cocaine while on bail for assault, burglary and peddling Class A drugs, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

Kazmi, 22, of Gain Lane, Fagley, Bradford, was arrested in the early hours of September 16 last year.

The arrest came about when police spotted an Audi A3 they wanted to stop on a Murco filling station forecourt on Killinghall Road, Bradford.

Prosecutor Stephen Wood told the court that when Kazmi saw the police approaching, he hastily hid a bag under the front end of a nearby vehicle.

He had £514 cash on him and the bag contained enough heroin and crack cocaine to make 15 street deals.

Kazmi was released on bail and again seen street drug dealing in Bradford less than a month later.

Mr Wood said officers on patrol in Manningham saw him selling drugs from the passenger seat of a silver Vauxhall Corsa at 11.30am on October 14.

The driver, who is still at large, attempted to make off but officers smashed the car windscreen and seized the ignition keys.

Kazmi had £60 cash on him and was seen concealing a bag.

That bad was found to contain 87 wraps of Class A drugs.

Mr Wood said the seizure comprised 55 wraps of crack cocaine and 32 wraps of heroin.

Together, the drugs were worth almost £600.

Kazmi made no comment in both his police interviews.

He was held in custody after his second drugs arrest, the court was told.

He pleaded guilty to two offences of possession of heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply it.

Kazmi’s barrister, Ayesha Smart, said he was addicted to Class A drugs at the time.

The court heard that his family had thrown him out and he was homeless.

He got in with an older crowd who supplied him with drugs until he ran up a debt.

When he refused to run their errands, he and his family were harassed until he agreed to sell drugs.

Miss Smart pointed out that Kazmi had health problems.

She said those problems led to headaches, stress, anxiety and depression.

He was weaning himself off illegal drugs in prison and doing educational courses in a bid to turn his life around, the court was told.

It also emerged that Kazmi’s girlfriend was expecting his child.

He was anxious to lead a crime free life in the future, the court heard.

Judge David Hatton QC jailed Kazmi for a total of four years and two months.

He made a confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act to seize £574 in cash taken from Kazmi by the police when he was apprehended.

Judge Hatton told Kazmi he was caught red-handed twice in less than a month.

The judge said: “Your eyes were wide open.

“You knew what you were engaging in, and dealing in Class A drugs on the street has to be dealt with severely.”

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