A weight trainer drug dealer will have to wait longer to learn his fate after all sentences at Bradford Crown Court were pulled out of the list today.

Safraz Rabnawaz was due to appear before the court on a video link to Leeds Prison to be dealt with for his role in an operation to courier a kilo of heroin to the Body Fuel shop in Lilycroft Road, Bradford.

His co-accused, Khuram Riaz, was jailed for five years earlier this month after he was convicted by a jury of conspiring with Rabnawaz and others to bring the £25,000 package of drugs into the city from Lancashire.

Riaz, 30, of Manchester Road, Nelson, struggled with plain clothes police officers in the shop at 3pm on July 2, 2018, and had to be subdued when he tried to escape.

Rabnawaz, 34, of Oak Lane, Manningham, Bradford, pleaded guilty to his role in the drugs plot ahead of trial.

The taxi driver said he had known Rabnawaz, a weight trainer, from childhood and had bought steroids and protein shakes from his shop.

He told the jury he thought the arresting officers were robbers and burglars because they wore masks and baseball caps. He was afraid and tried to run away.

His DNA was found on a gilet that the drugs were seized from.

Prosecutor Giles Bridge said Riaz must have been a trusted courier to be given a kilo of heroin to deliver.

“It was a large-scale operation involving the wholesaling of drugs into Bradford,” he said.

Rabnawaz, who is remanded in custody ahead of sentencing, was one of a number of defendants to have their cases adjourned today.

The court building was still open although all the courtrooms were closed.

It is believed that some cases will continue to be heard, including bail applications, that are anyway held behind closed doors.