A YOUNG man, who turned to drugs after finding the responsibility of caring for his gravely ill father too much to cope with, has been jailed for 30 months.

Waqar Ahmed, 23, pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply after police found him in a car, in Braithwaite Avenue, Keighley, with small quantities of heroin and crack cocaine with a street value of only £120 in February last year.

Ahmed’s barrister, Michael Greenhalgh, told Bradford Crown Court that his client’s father, who he was very close to, fell very ill, and was in a coma and very close to losing his life.

Mr Greenhalgh told Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC: “The effect on this young man cannot be understated. He found himself involved in drugs to try to cope.

“That was an expensive pastime and this rather facile attempt to deal in drugs was detected by police.”

Mr Greenhalgh said Ahmed, of Devonshire Street, Keighley, was the sole carer for his father who was now blind as a consequence of his illness.

Judge Durham Hall said he had read very impressive references from Ahmed’s family and employer.

He told him: “You are well thought of. I have references which speak very highly of you. You have no relevant previous convictions at all.

“You come from a very decent family. You have brought a great deal of shame on them. Everybody is at a loss to understand why you have thrown away your prospects.”

The judge said Ahmed was effectively the sole carer for his now blind father.

Judge Durham Hall added: “The responsibility upon you I accept was great, possibly more than you could cope with, and foolishly you turned to drugs.

“You couldn’t see a realistic alternative to resolving your problems, save by recklessly trying to sell these small quantities of drugs. Inevitably you were caught, such was the lack of sophistication and naivety of your project.”

Judge Durham Hall said he must send out the clear message to others not to fall into the trap as drugs were “a terrible, wicked, vicious disease, blighting so many lives”.

But he said he could identify the pressures upon Ahmed and his character was much different from that normally seen in court of people supplying drugs.

He added: “This may not have been an isolated incident, but I suspect you were not very much into dealing. I also suspect your use of drugs blinded you to the real problem of the nature of the trade.”