JAILED THIS WEEK: Here's who has been locked up in Bradford

Luqman Khan was imprisoned for six years for helping to operate the line and multiple offences of supplying Class A drugs in April 2019.

Mohammed Arfan was locked up for two and a half years for two offences of trafficking drugs with Khan in the Leeds Road area of Bradford.

Khan, 23, of Tagore Court, Fagley, Bradford, was described by the judge sentencing him as “a very busy and active street dealer.”

He pleaded guilty to supplying crack cocaine on April 3, 10 and 29th, 2019, and heroin on April 10.

Khan then committed offences of possession with intent to supply crack cocaine and heroin on April 30, 2019, with Arfan, 25, of Falsgrave Avenue, Bradford Moor.

Prosecutor Ian Howard said that on November 11, 2019, the police searched Khan’s home and found the key to a Vauxhall Corsa that was parked nearby. Seized from the car were two bundles of cash totalling around £1,000 and 210 wraps of heroin and crack cocaine valued at £2,000.

Khan was charged with possession with intent to supply the drugs and possession of the cash as criminal property.

He was remanded in custody and had been locked up since then, the court was told.

Mr Howard said the men were in a black Seat Altea when they were caught dealing together. The driver, who wasn’t before the court, tried to get away from the police but lurched forward into their patrol vehicle. Arfan ran off dropping a bag of drugs, cash and a phone.

Both his and Khan’s phones had messages relating to drug dealing on them, Mr Howard said.

Allan Armbrister, Khan’s barrister, said he got in with a bad set of people for about six months. He had no similar previous convictions and had already served the equivalent of a two year jail sentence.

Ian Hudson, for Arfan, said he was paying off a cannabis debt and working under the direction of others. He had been on bail for approaching two years and had kept out of trouble for all that time.

Arfan was the father of two young children and had no previous convictions.

Recorder Thomas Moran accepted that his involvement was much less than Khan’s but said that only an immediate prison sentence was appropriate

A PARANOID drug addict with 302 criminal offences on his record was jailed for 18 months after he was arrested at Bradford Interchange with three knives.

Colin Beetham, who also had heroin on him, was apprehended at the railway station in Bradford city centre at 5.20pm on October 13 when it was busy with commuters.

He had called the police saying he was being followed and would kill people after buying three craft knives that day.

Beetham, 55, formerly of Queen’s Road, Crossflatts, but now of no fixed address, was sentenced on a video link to Leeds Prison after being recalled on licence.

He had 113 convictions for 302 offences, including two of being in possession of knives.

Prosecutor Andrew Stranex said that Beetham had pleaded guilty to three offences of possession of an offensive weapon in a public place and possession of a wrap of heroin.

In 2008, he was sentenced for having a kitchen knife at Bradford’s Lynfield Mount Hospital, and in 2019 he was locked up for 20 months after threatening to kill people when he was in possession of a pizza knife at Trafalgar House Police Station in Bradford.

Mr Stranex said the latest offences were aggravated by Beetham’s previous convictions that included numerous breaches of court orders. He was under the influence of drugs at the time and in breach of a conditional discharge.

His barrister, Camille Morland, said: “He is 55 with a very, very long record indeed and a long-standing addiction to Class A drugs.”

The drugs had given Beetham mental health problems and there were elements of paranoia in his behaviour. He had never used the weapons he carried.

The offences at Bradford Interchange were a cry for help, Miss Morland said.

He rang the police and made threats because he believed he was being followed and persecuted.

Beetham now spent most of his time in a wheelchair because of severe arthritis. He was homeless and his poor health would make him vulnerable to Covid-19 in prison.

Judge Andrew Hatton said the railway station would have been very busy with all sorts of people at that time.

The 302 criminal offences on Beetham’s record were for a whole range of offences including two previous convictions for possession of a bladed article.

Judge Hatton accepted that Beetham had mental health problems and was on medication for depression and anxiety.

His licence period ran out next month but the offences were so serious that he would have to spend more time behind bars.

AN Albanian man who entered the country illegally was jailed for tending a sophisticated 346-plant cannabis farm in Bradford.

Stefan Musta will be deported when he has served the two-year prison sentence imposed on him.

Prosecutor Joseph Bell said Musta was found asleep in a makeshift bedroom at an address in Canford Drive, Allerton, when police raided the house on December 23 last year.

The 34-year-old was arrested at the scene and pleaded guilty at the magistrates’ court to production of cannabis.

Mr Bell said the police busted the drugs factory after receiving several complaints from members of the public who were suspicious about what was going on at the property.

There was a strong smell of cannabis outside the house and wires running to and from the building indicated that the electricity supply had been bypassed.

Vacuum seal bags were found downstairs with fragments of cannabis in them. There were also bags of compost, scales and phones, along with a quantity of money.

The 346 cannabis plants found in the house were being heated and irrigated by a sophisticated system of lamps, hoses and water tanks.

As well as plants of different sizes being discovered on both floors, there were 65 in the attic and 142 more in an upstairs cupboard.

Mr Bell said Musta had played a significant operational role in a sophisticated cannabis farm capable of producing high yields of the drug.

Musta’s barrister, Ian Hudson, said he had no previous convictions here or in his homeland.

He came to the United Kingdom illegally about a year ago and accepted that he would be deported back to Albania when he left prison.

He had worked as a labourer in this country and was then offered payment to look after the cannabis plants for ten days.

Musta had been remanded in Leeds Prison since his arrest and he was sentenced on a video link to the courtroom, assisted by an Albanian interpreter.

Recorder Thomas Moran said a large part of the house had been turned over to the growing of cannabis.

It was a sophisticated operation with many plants of different sizes and the electricity supply was bypassed.

Musta told the police he became a gardener at the farm for financial reasons rather than being coerced into working for the drugs operation.

From a three-year starting point, Musta was given a full third off his sentence for his prompt guilty plea.

A BRADFORD University student was locked up for trying to make money out of selling heroin and cocaine on the streets of Bradford.

Usamah Sultan was 18 when he was caught trafficking Class A drugs in the centre of the city on the afternoon of October 15, 2019.

Sultan, 20, of Bolingbroke Street, Heaton, Bradford, pleaded guilty to possession of heroin and cocaine with intent to supply when he first appeared at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates’ Court.

Prosecutor Joseph Bell said that the police saw two males behaving suspiciously at about 4.30pm. Sultan walked away but when he came to the attention of the police again he ran off. An officer chased after him and he was apprehended on Edmund Street.

Sultan admitted at the scene that he had drugs in his pocket and seven wraps were found on him. He made no comment when he was interviewed by the police.

Mr Bell said his bedroom was searched and 14 more wraps of Class A drugs were seized.

The total value of the drugs was £319, the court was told.

Texts on Sultan’s phone revealed that he was dealing in drugs, Mr Bell said.

Sultan’s solicitor advocate, John Bottomley, said he was only 18 at the time of the offences and had no previous convictions or cautions.

He was “the boots on the ground” in the trafficking operation and threatened by those above him in the chain when he wanted to cease his dealing activities.

Sultan had done well at school and was now a student at the University of Bradford, Mr Bottomley said.

He had been naïve and exploited by other more sophisticated criminals.

Sultan had only a modest amount of drugs on him and at his home and a small amount of cash.

Recorder Thomas Moran said that he had been honest with his probation officer, telling him he entered into the drug dealing operation enticed by the idea of financial reward. He was not himself a drug user.

“This is a case which is about making money,” Recorder Moran said.

He conceded that Sultan wanted to stop selling the drugs but was he threatened and made to carry on working for the operation.

However, he started out by trying to make money from the terrible damage that drugs do to people.

Sultan was sentenced to 28 months’ detention in a young offender institution.

A DRUG dealer was jailed for three years for possession of class A drugs with intent to supply after being arrested following a police pursuit.

Steven Briggs, 44, was chased through Shipley while riding a stolen grey Yamaha motorbike.

He was pursued by a police officer on a marked police motorbike on Leeds Road and Thackley Old Road.

The officer caught up with Briggs who tested his brakes during the pursuit to try to deter him and mounted pavements on the machine.

Briggs, of Westroyd Crescent, Shipley, left his bike and ran but then stumbled and tripped over. He was eventually stopped by the officer and at first resisted arrest, swearing at the officer and, despite being warned, was PAVA sprayed to stop him from struggling any further.

A total of 15 packages of cocaine and heroin and two mobile phones Briggs had tried to discard were found nearby.

The two phones contained a total of 198 text messages sent over three days which were found relating to drug dealing.

The police chase took place for a few minutes after 4.20pm on February 6, 2019, and despite making no comment in a subsequent interview with police, Briggs pleaded guilty at a hearing on February 11 last year.

He had been addicted to heroin for decades, the court was told in mitigation, but since the incidents he had taken steps to stop his drug use and now takes opioid blockers, which means if he were to take drugs they would not have any effect on him.

The motorbike Briggs was riding was stolen from Keighley in November 2018 and valued at £2,000 to £3,000, Julian Goode, prosecuting, told the court.

Briggs was sentenced for two counts of possession of cocaine and heroin with intent to supply, dishonestly receiving stolen goods and dangerous driving. He was disqualified from driving for four years.

A HOUSE burglar who raided almost £25,000 worth of property from just one of the three homes he targeted was jailed for six years.

Wayne Thornton was equipped with a lock-pick and a multi-tool when broke into a house in Tulyar Court, Gilstead, Bingley, at 3.30am on September 28, 2019.

He made off with house and vehicle keys, £600 worth of jewellery and cash.

Thornton, 45, of York Street, Bingley, was arrested close by with his burglary kit and three stolen Pandora rings in his pocket.

Prosecutor Emma Downing said the rest of the haul, including three silver bracelets and an engagement ring of great sentimental value were not recovered.

Thornton was next caught with a phone and nail gun stolen in a burglary in Baildon on June 9 last year. The break-in saw £1,500 property raided along with two vehicles worth a total of £15,500.

He struck again on November 1 and 4, burgling homes in Ash Grove, Bingley, and Aire View Avenue, Cottingley.

He forced his way into the first house and did £330 damage but the burglar alarm went off and he fled empty handed leaving his DNA on a broken bowl.

Thornton and an accomplice then ransacked the address in Cottingley, making off with £24,376 worth of property, including a collection of designer handbags, a watch and high-value electronic items.

The court heard the burglars smashed their way in through a patio door while the occupiers were out. They got away with 88 separate items.

They stashed some of the stolen property in the shrubbery and returned later to collect it. Items of sentimental value were then returned to the couple by a man calling himself John.

Thornton pleaded guilty to three house burglaries and an offence of handling stolen goods. He had 25 previous convictions for 77 offences, including burglary and attempted burglary.

His barrister, Ian Hudson, said he had been out of trouble for ten years but then lost his job and his relationship broke down. He became involved with drugs again and his addiction escalated.

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Richard Mansell QC, told Thornton:  “Although you do not qualify for a minimum three year sentence on any of the three dwelling house burglaries, these offences call for a significant sentence of imprisonment, to punish you, to deter others and to protect the public from you committing further such offences now that you appear to have returned to your previous criminal ways.”

A MAN caught storing almost a kilo of Class A drugs valued at £56,000 was jailed for two years.

Kaya Peters was pressured into “safe-housing” the heroin and cocaine at his home in Khalaq Court, Bradford, after his dealer called in an £800 cannabis debt.

Peters, 30, a father of four, pleaded guilty to three offences of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs dating from September 29, 2018.

Prosecutor Anthony Moore said that when the police arrived to search the house, Peters showed them where the heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine was being kept.

Officers recovered the stash from a chest of drawers in his bedroom along with dealer bags, scales, phones and £130 in cash.

Peters was also holding on to the key of an Audi car for someone he refused to name.

He said that none of the drugs or the paraphernalia were his. He was storing them for others because he had run up the debt.

A half-kilo block of heroin found at the house had a street value of £25,000. More packages of the drug were seized, along with 88 deals of crack cocaine and 11 packages of cocaine with a street value of £26,700.

Peters told the police he was a heavy user of cannabis and became custodian of the drugs because he owed money to his dealer.

His barrister, Shufqat Khan, said he began smoking cannabis as a coping mechanism for the problems in his life.

He had no previous convictions for drugs offences and only one conviction for a dissimilar matter.

There had been an element of pressure to persuade him to store the drugs.

Mr Khan said the delay of more than two years in bringing the case to sentence was unjustifiable.

Peters had since cut right down on his cannabis use and he was a valued voluntary worker.

He had been his mother’s carer since he was 16 and an immediate prison sentence would have a harmful impact on others.

“He is genuinely sorry and disgusted with himself,” Mr Khan said.

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Richard Mansell QC, hit out at the “unconscionable and totally unacceptable delay” in bringing the case to sentence.

Peters had shown the police where the drugs were, admitted they were his and pleaded guilty to the offences.

Judge Mansell said he was “at the very bottom of the pyramid in this evil trade” but a clear message must go out that drug dealing offences would not be tolerated by the courts.