COURT: Here's who has been jailed this week at Bradford Crown Court

Drugs squad officers pursued Adeel Majid from Rooley Lane, Bradford, until he abandoned the vehicle in Heath Street, Bradford Moor, and was arrested nearby.

The police noticed Majid was “standing awkwardly” and clenching his buttocks, prosecutor Kate Bisset told Bradford Crown Court.

He was panting and very nervous “like a deer in the headlights looking for a means of escape.”

Majid, 26, of Bayswater Road, Harehills, Leeds, was searched at the police station and a large white package was found on him containing drugs worth £528.

Miss Bisset said there were 61 wraps of crack cocaine at up to 89 per cent purity, 27 wraps of heroin, at 27 per cent purity and five bags of cocaine worth £314.

Majid pleaded guilty to three offences of possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply and one charge of possessing cash as criminal property, all on December 29 last year.

He was sentenced on a video link to Leeds Prison and with the Skype service.

The court heard that Majid was pursued by the police because the BMW had links to drug dealing.

The vehicle accelerated to twice the 30mph speed limit and then roared off at 90mph towards the Dudley Hill Roundabout.

After Majid and another man had abandoned the car, they were spotted fleeing towards Amberley Court.

Majid was panicked and on his phone, Miss Bisset said.

He refused to give details of who he was and had cash and three phones on him.

Majid later said he had put the package of drugs in his shorts and run away.

His ten previous convictions included two for possession of crack cocaine and heroin with intent to supply. He was jailed for three years in 2012 and four years in 2017. He was on licence at the time of his arrest in December.

Miss Bisett said Majid was a “third strike” drug dealer liable for a minimum seven year prison sentence.

The court heard in mitigation that he had pleaded guilty ahead of his trial.

Judge Jonathan Rose said Bradford and other cities were “blighted by Class A drugs.”

Even in the last few days he had heard cases where Class A drug users had resorted to crime to fund their addiction.

Majid had not learned his lesson from his previous jail sentences. He was out to line his pockets from trafficking heroin and cocaine while still on prison licence.

“You could not contain your criminality,” Judge Rose told him.

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A TEENAGER who tried to burgle an occupied house at dead of night in breach of a suspended sentence for attempting to rob a Bradford taxi driver, was locked up for two and a half years.

Reece Southern was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court on a video link to HMP Doncaster and using the Skype service.

Southern, 19, of Calderstone Avenue, Buttershaw, Bradford, pleaded guilty to a string of offences.

He was in breach of an 18-month suspended sentence imposed on October 30, 2018, for being one of a group who lured a taxi driver to a secluded area and tried to rob him.

They fled empty-handed when he sounded his horn to summon help.

Prosecutor Stephen Littlewood said the attempted burglary was committed at Bessingham Gardens, Buttershaw, overnight on November 18 last year.

Southern was hooded and his accomplice wore a mask when they tried the door handle and shone a torch through the windows before realising there was CCTV at the address.

Both were wearing gloves when they also tried the door handle of a vehicle parked at the property.

The householder woke to find the gate open. He saw the would-be raiders creeping about when he checked the CCTV.

Mr Littlewood said Southern at first denied the offence, using his elderly grandmother as an alibi.

He was also sentenced for dishonestly handling a car stolen in a burglary, on May 6 last year; stealing a dashboard camera from a vehicle parked at Bradford Ice Arena, in Little Horton Lane, on September 14; spitting twice at an arresting police officer and racially abusing a second one.

The court heard that Southern was drunk when the officers arrived at the city’s Kirkgate Market to arrest him for theft from the car.

He launched a tirade of abuse and needed to be restrained with handcuffs and leg restraints. When he past at an officer, a spit guard was put on him but he managed to remove it and spit at him a second time.

He racially abused an officer and threatened to harm the police team’s family and pets.

Southern had six previous convictions for 15 offences, including four house burglaries.

His barrister, Ian Hudson, said the teenager knew he would receive a custodial sentence.

He was deeply ashamed and disgusted about his behaviour towards the police.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Southern and the other inmates at HMP Doncaster were locked up for twenty three and a half hours a day, with no educational classes or social visits, Mr Hudson stated.

Judge Colin Burn sent Southern to a young offender institution for two years and implemented six months of the suspended sentence order consecutively.

A MAN was jailed for two years for attempting to rob a bakery with an imitation cowboy gun.

James Halliday showed the fake firearm to the woman working in the shop while demanding: “I want your till,” Bradford Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Paul Nicholson said the “brave and stoic” victim at first thought Halliday was joking.

She had greeted him with “Hi lovey what can I get you?” but realised he was serious when he said: “I’ve got a gun.”

Bradford born Halliday, 35, pleaded guilty to attempting to rob West Vale Bakery in Greetland, Halifax, on the morning of March 16.

His not guilty plea to having a replica Colt revolver with intent to commit a robbery was accepted by the Crown because he was sentenced on the full facts.

The case was heard on a video link to Leeds Prison and using the Skype service.

Mr Nicholson said the bakery was a family business and the woman and her husband were there early that day.

Halliday, of Saddleworth Road, Greetland, fled from the shop after the woman called out to her husband for assistance.

He was spotted by a police officer on Saddleworth Road and arrested after taking a bus to Huddersfield Road.

The following day the police searched Halliday’s home and found the imitation gun under his bed.

He told them he inherited it from his late father who used to dress up as a cowboy.

Halliday’s barrister, Shufqat Khan, said he had no relevant previous convictions.

The incident had lasted less than a minute and he had run off as soon as the woman called for her husband.

The offence was wholly out of character for a man who had been in work since he left school.

Mr Khan said Halliday was a cannabis user but had begun taking heroin about eighteen months ago and become addicted.

He spent all his money on the drug, lost his job and borrowed cash from friends.

His addiction spiralled out of control and he was withdrawing from the drug after a sleepless night.

“His judgement was clouded by his craving for drugs,” Mr Khan said.

He told the police: “I’m sorry. I’m full of remorse. I didn’t mean to cause harm. I just needed my next fix.”

He said he wanted to sit down with couple to apologise in person.

Halliday had been in prison on remand since the offence. It was his first taste of custody and he was using his time to wean himself off drugs.

Judge Jonathan Rose said Halliday’s case was “too typical a story” of a cannabis user turning to Class A drugs and becoming a desperate addict.

He praised the bakery worker for her courage.

“She is a brave and stoic lady. Others would have been utterly terrified,” he said.