THREE Bradford men involved in a conspiracy to supply Class A drugs have been locked up for a total of 23 years.

Iyas Khan, 26, and Aqib Mehmood, 19, were found guilty after a trial of possessing 10kg of heroin with intent to supply.

Bradford Crown Court heard that the drugs, with a street value of £497,000, were found by police in a holdall hidden behind Mehmood’s bed at his home in Little Horton.

He denied knowledge of the contents of the bag, saying in interview and later in evidence at his trial that first one uncle, co-defendant Iyas Khan, then another uncle, Amjid Khan, had asked him to hold on to the bag.

The trial jury, however, did not believe this version of events, and yesterday, Iyas Khan, of Greaves Street, Little Horton, received a sentence of 10 years in prison for playing a “significant role” in the drugs plot.

Mehmood, of neighbouring Lindley Road, played a “lesser role” and having no previous convictions, was sentenced to five and a half years in a young offender institution.

Amjid Khan, 40, also of Greaves Street, Little Horton, who has two previous drug supply convictions, having received an indeterminate jail sentence in 2007, was sentenced to seven and a half years.

He pleaded guilty part way through the trial to possessing 96.5g of cocaine with intent to supply and possession of criminal property, namely around £52,000 in cash. The drugs had a street value of £3,860.

Prosecutor Michael Morley told the court that the drugs were found packaged up in bags, the heroin at Mehmood’s house and the cocaine at Amjid Khan’s address, on April 8, 2017.

He added that Iyas Khan tried to explain away forensic evidence linking him to the heroin by saying he lived close to his nephew’s address and would go there occasionally.

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Abbas Lakha QC, for Iyas Khan, argued that his client, who appeared in handcuffs in the dock due to his behaviour when he was found guilty at trial, had not played a leading role in the heroin conspiracy.

He added that he had also been due to marry this year, but it had been put on hold.

In mitigation, Roger Brown for Amjid Khan, said that the cocaine was all wrapped up, no scales and bags were found, and that he had been simply “warehousing” the drug.

Shufqat Khan for Mehmood, spoke of his lack of maturity and his naivety – and how as the eldest of three sibling he had “let his family down”.

Judge Colin Burn said it was quite clear that Amjid “had control over” the cocaine and his role was not just storing it, but profiting from the sale of the drugs as well.

Of the heroin conspiracy, he added that if such a “huge amount” had been “unleashed on the streets it would have caused all sorts of misery”.

The jury in their guilty verdict were sure that the uncle, Iyas Khan had been the one to leave the drugs with Mehmood, he added.

But there was an “inherent implausibility” in the idea that Mehmood was storing a bag in his bedroom without any idea of its contents, the judge said, adding that his fingerprints were also on one of the bags inside.