A man who was looking after a £12,000 stash of heroin for another "villain" has been jailed for four years.

When police raided Amar Murtaza's home at Sliverhill Road, Bradford Moor, in August last year they found 241 grams of the Class A drug, which had a street value of £12,000, hidden in a holdall.

Officers then uncovered a plastic bag containing paracetamol in powder form which could be used to the cut the heroin with, as well as a broken set of scales.

Murtaza, 27, phoned home as the police were searching the house and was told to get back home by his father who thought that he was going to be arrested.

When he was interviewed, Murtaza admitted he knew about the drugs but told the police a cover story claiming that he had found the bag in a nearby park and thought it contained money.

He pleaded guilty on the day of his trial to a charge of possession of heroin with intent to supply.

Recorder Paul Worsley QC, sitting at Bradford Crown Court, was told that Murtaza had been asked by another dealer to look after the drugs and was scared about what might happen to himself and his family if he said no. He claimed that he was not going to sell the drugs to anybody else and was simply going to hand the drugs over when the other dealer came to collect them.

Passing sentence Recorder Worsley said: "You gave a cock-and-bull story to the police about seeing another man with a bag in the park.

"You were looking after drugs for somebody else enabling a greater villain to get away with their possession and supplying of drugs.

"You are not someone who was supplying drugs to members of the community but assisting somebody higher up the chain of command."