A MIDDLE-AGED drug dealer with a serious heart condition was spared prison because it could kill him.

Shah Suleman, 49, had heart failure and had a pacemaker fitted after suffering a heart attack, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Suleman, of Harriet Street, who admitted two charges of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply, was stopped by police in his car in October last year. At the police station he was searched and found to have 17 wraps of heroin and 19 wraps of crack cocaine hidden on his person. The drugs were worth just under £250 and he had £115 cash in his pockets.

The court heard Suleman was jailed for two years in 2007 for possessing heroin and cocaine with intent to supply.

His barrister, Jon Gregg, said it was rare to see a 49-year-old drug dealer with such a perilous heart condition in court.

Mr Gregg said that further medical examinations and surgery were anticipated and a letter from Suleman's GP made gloomy reading.

He said his client was a long-term drug addict, revealed by the state of his health and his criminal record. he had lost his job in a taxi office and sold drugs to support his "pernicious habit."

Mr Gregg said that since he had been arrested and charged, Suleman had been to the Bridge Project and had grasped with both hands the lifeline that organisation had thrown him.

Mr Gregg said his client had been playing a lesser role under the direction of others.

He added: "He is not a young go-getter desperate to make his way up the ladder, but an old and sick man trying to feed his habit.

"He has been a foolish man and he has paid with his health. Having taken drugs for so long, he knows the damage they do, which makes it doubly disappointing and distressing he was actively selling. But that is how their addled barins work."

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC said the defendant had a very serious illness which was extremely challenging in terms of expectancy.

The judge said: "The medical experts bluntly say it is questionable whether this degree of illness can be managed in a prison environment. He was a desperate man seeking a desperate remedy. I should send him to prison where he belongs, but it may well have disastrous consequences.

"Quite frankly, there is a high risk of you not surviving the additional stresses and strains of prison and another heart attack could well be fatal."

Judge Durham Hall sentenced Suleman to two years imprisonment suspended for two years, with a 40-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

He added: "This is a quite exceptional sentence, for drug dealers are the bane of Bradford and the bane of many people's lives, and judges are required to be robust."