A 20-year-old man has been locked up for five years for persistently selling Class A drugs on the streets of Bradford.

Judge Jonathan Rose told Sarfraz Ahmed he was caught red-handed “peddling death”.

Ahmed pleaded guilty to drug-dealing in Windhill, Shipley, on March 17 this year and having £250 in criminal property.

He was then committed to Bradford Crown Court for sentence for selling heroin and crack cocaine in Allerton, Bradford, on July 2.

The court heard Ahmed, of Hallfield Road, Manningham, Bradford, was locked up for five months in March, 2007, for importation of cannabis and for two years in August that year for supplying heroin.

Prosecutor Paul Nicholson said Ahmed was caught selling wraps of heroin and crack cocaine from a black Vauxhall Astra in Windhill.

Drugs squad officers surrounded the car which reversed into a police vehicle. In July, Ahmed was seen dealing in Allerton.

He fled on foot, throwing a bundle of drugs into the grounds of the Girls’ Grammar School, Bradford.

Sentencing Ahmed, Judge Rose said it was dreadful to see such a young man facing a long sentence for drug dealing.

“Dealers in Class A drugs will get sentences measured in years,” he told him.

In mitigation, Jayne Beckett, Ahmed’s barrister, said her client had been pressurised and threatened to street deal.

He was “used and preyed upon” after being enmeshed in a world he struggled to cope with, she said.

After the case, Sergeant Peter Barrett, of the Bradford District Drugs Team, said: “We welcome this prison sentence for the dealing of Class A drugs and hope that it sends out a clear message that if you choose to deal drugs you will be arrested, charged and imprisoned. This case is not only a success for the police but also for the local community.”