Who was jailed last week at Bradford Crown Court? Here's a round-up of serious cases

They were brought to the address in Hammerton Street, off Leeds Road, to tend the 668 plants after running up gambling debts in London.

Enerik Kaba, 25, was imprisoned for 20 months at Bradford Crown Court. Co-accused, Yanis Skura, 21, was locked up for 18 months.

Prosecutor Jade Edwards said that both men had pleaded guilty to production of can-nabis at the magistrates’ court. They were remanded in Leeds Prison ahead of the sen-tencing hearing.

Miss Edwards said that police with a drugs search warrant forced entry to the terraced house on August 18.

They had to get through a metal gate and a metal door, and the garage was secured with a steel roller shutter.

There were two beds at the property, a well-stocked kitchen, a television set, a comput-er with games, and clothing.

Rooms were partitioned off to use as nurseries for young plants, while four rooms of mature plants were discovered upstairs.

In all, there were 668 cannabis plants at the commercial-scale operation. The electricity supply had been bypassed, meaning that the road had to be dug up to make the area safe.

The police noticed a small hatch in one of the growing rooms. It led to a void in the wall where the men were hiding, Miss Edwards said.

They had phones and keys to the property so they could have left at any time.

Ken Green, barrister for both of the men, said they were from Crete. They were in the United Kingdom legally and had been living in London.

Each had a gambling addiction and had run up debts. They were persuaded to travel to Bradford to tend the cannabis plants to pay them off.

They were gardeners and they played a lesser role in the drugs organisation, Mr Green said. Neither man had any previous convictions.

Skura suffered with chronic epilepsy and had seizures on a regular basis. He was receiving medication and would find a jail sentence more onerous.

The men were ashamed of their involvement in the crime. Their families were aware of their position and both wanted to return to Crete.

Recorder Gavin Doig ordered forfeiture and destruction of the plants and equipment.

He said both men must serve immediate sentences of imprisonment. Skura was jailed for a shorter time because of his epilepsy and the fact that he was younger.

A DRUG addict seen by the police dealing crack cocaine on the streets of Bradford was jailed for two years and eight months.

Bradford Crown Court heard that Neil Horsfall had been using drugs since the age of 17 and his long-standing addiction had blighted his life.

On August 20 last year, officers stopped and searched a Vauxhall Astra being driven by the 44-year-old in Murgatroyd Street, Little Horton.

Horsfall, formerly of Bradford, now of no fixed address, was found in possession of 13 wraps of the Class A drug, two mobile phones and £140 in cash.

He admitted that he had been dealing to pay off his own drugs debt.

Horsfall failed to attend at Bradford Crown Court in July for his sentencing hearing and he appeared via a video link to HMP Leeds where he had been remanded in custody following his arrest.

He had earlier admitted charges of possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply and possession of the criminal cash.

Barrister Harry Crowson, for Horsfall, said he had been trying support his ongoing habit and was acting under the direction of others.

He said drugs were a blight on Horsfall's life but he appeared to doing well while on re-mand.

Recorder Gavin Doig said Horsfall was fortunate to have the support of his parents but the appropriate jail sentence for the Class A drug dealing was too long to be suspended.

AN UNINSURED driver pulling donuts at an illegal ‘car racing event’ in Bradford sped off and crashed into a Mercedes garage doing £50,000 worth of damage.

Daniaal Mohammed was jailed for two years at Bradford Crown Court for two offences of driving dangerously.

The first, on August 7, 2020, took place in Morrisons car park on Young Street, and while Mohammed was pursued by the police until he crashed through a wall into a parked Mercedes at the dealership on Thornton Road.

His co-accused, Sadaf Mushtaq, a carer, who told a complete pack of lies to the police to try to escape any liability for the damaged BMW she had hired, was spared an immedi-ate jail sentence.

The court heard that Mushtaq, 27, whose address was Gibraltar Road Halifax, but the court heard she had since left the area, hired the vehicle from Thrifty Car Rental know-ing that only she was insured to drive it.

CCTV footage showed that Mohammed was at the wheel when it arrived at an apart-ment block in Peckover Street, Little Germany, Bradford, at 10.50pm the next day.

Mohammed, 22, of Blackwood Grove, Halifax, later drove off alone in the BMW and half an hour later a police officer heard a screeching of tyres and saw the car pulling donuts in Morrisons car park.

The court heard that the car park had a reputation for that sort of driving activity.

The officer activated his sirens and blue lights and ordered Mohammed to stop. Instead, he sped off, driving straight through a red light and almost hitting another vehicle.

Moments later, the BMW crashed through a wall at the Mercedes-Benz garage causing £50,000 damage.

Mohammed escaped on foot and was caught on CCTV returning on foot to Peckover Street at about 11.50pm.

He and Mushtaq were then caught on camera having a heated argument in the apartment block.

She was said to be heavily intoxicated and ‘less than impressed’ by the news of the BMW crash.

She was then seen to leave her handbag on some steps on nearby East Parade. A woman retrieved it at 3.35am and took it inside a building.

Later that day, Mustaq reported that the bag had been stolen with the keys to the BMW in it.

She told ‘a complete pack of lies’ to the investigating officer and made no mention of Mohammed.

On the evening of February 18 this year, while on bail, Mohammed again drove danger-ously.

He was pursued by the police from Keele services on the M6 during an amber weather warning for Storm Eunice, doing 125mph across the Thelwall Viaduct in high winds, hail and sleet.

During the pursuit on to M62 eastbound, Mohammed deliberately swerved several times at the police. His VW Golf was stopped by a stinger device that deflated the tyres.

He then jumped over the barrier onto the westbound carriageway into the path of on-coming vehicles.

Mohammed pleaded guilty to two offences of dangerous driving, failing to stop and driving while disqualified and unlicensed.

Mushtaq pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice.

In mitigation for Mushtaq it was said that she was felt emotionally blackmailed and didn’t know what the consequences of lying to the police would be. She had never been in trouble before and had since moved out of the area away from ‘negative influences.’ Andrew Walker, mitigating for Mohammed, said his wife was expecting their child and that had led to a very real change in his lifestyle. He was suffering from depression and had a problem with his shoulder would need surgery.

Recorder Judy Dawson said Mushtaq knew she was the only person insured to drive the BMW. Her then boyfriend, Mohammed, drove it to Bradford and then went to some sort of unauthorised ‘car racing’ event shortly before midnight.

The police saw him pulling donuts and he crashed into the garage wall, causing £50,000 damage to the car, the wall and a parked Mercedes.

The on February 18 this year he put two police officers ‘in certain danger’ by deliberate-ly swerved at them several times in the motorway pursuit.

Mohammed was jailed for a total of two years and banned from driving for three years and until he passes an extended test.

Mushtaq was jailed for 12 months, suspended for two years, with 40 rehabilitation activity days.

A JUDGE hit out at the two-year maximum sentence for dangerous driving when jailing a drugged-up driver who injured two police officers in an appalling high-speed pursuit down the Eastbound M62 in a rusting Ford Transit.

Bradford Crown Court heard that Luke Adair deliberately reversed into a police car while uninsured and unlicensed in a vehicle with holes in the bottom and a tyre so bald that the cord was exposed.

Jailing him for 22 months, Judge Andrew Hatton said: ‘If Members of Parliament actual-ly heard the details of cases like these they would question the wholly inadequate two-year maximum sentence for dangerous driving.”

The court heard that Adair, 27, of York Road, Leeds, was on bail at the time for another offence of dangerous driving, committed in November, 2020. He was jailed for 18 months for that and had now served that sentence.

On October 21 last year, police officers on patrol on the M62 Eastbound were informed that there was a Ford Transit travelling on the motorway on cloned plates.

Adair sped away from them near Junction 22, reaching 90mph, veering off the motorway and around a roundabout, before rejoining it.

He then slowed to a stop on the hard shoulder and a passenger threw himself out and walked off, the court was told.

Adair then reversed down the motorway into a police car before speeding off again.

He was doing 70mph and veering across the lanes before hitting a lamppost. The van swerved 180 degrees across the hard shoulder, flew through the air and landed on its roof.

Adair was pulled out by the police and other emergency services took over.

The court heard that the van was in very bad condition, with severe rust, holes in the underneath and a tyre so bald that the cord was exposed. It was uninsured and Adair had only a provisional driving licence.

He made no comment when questioned by the police but went on to plead guilty in the magistrates’ court to dangerous driving, driving with 6.8 micrograms per litre of Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabino (THC) in his blood, assaulting the two police officers by deliber-ately driving at them in the pursuit, doing at least £12,000 damage to a police BMW X5, and driving unlicensed and uninsured. The court heard that the two police officers suffered lower back injuries and had still been in pain months afterwards. One had sustained nerve damage and needed physio-therapy.

Adair had 15 previous convictions for 22 offences, including the earlier dangerous driv-ing offence, aggravated vehicle taking and driving while unlicensed and uninsured.

His barrister, Howard Shaw, conceded in mitigation that it was’ an appalling piece of driving’ by a man with a criminal record.

Since committing the offence, Adair had been jailed for another piece of dangerous driving and now ‘in a very different place,’ Mr Shaw said.

He was extremely sorry for injuring the police officers and ‘feels horrible about it,’ the court was told.

Since his release from jail, he had made great efforts to conquer his alcohol and drugs misuse. His supervising probation officer said he had engaged well and custody at this stage would not be beneficial.

Mr Shaw pointed to the very real progress Adair had made since serving the sentence and urged the court to allow him to continue with that with a community penalty.

But Judge Hatton said that Adair was on bail and under the influence of drugs and had a passenger in the van for part of the time. These were all aggravating features of what was ‘a sustained, persistent and extremely dangerous piece of driving.’ He had veered across the lanes on the motorway at excessive speed, left to go round the roundabout and rejoined the M62, then reversed down the carriageway into the police vehicle.

He had then accelerated away again before hitting a lamppost. Both police officers were injured in the pursuit and damage caused.

Adair was jailed for 14 months for dangerous driving, six months for injuring the police officers and two months for drug driving, the sentences to run consecutively.

He was banned from driving for six years and he was already under orders to pass an extended retest before he could apply for a licence.

A MAN was jailed for taking part in ‘ring and bring’ drug dealing in Bradford to pay off his own debt.

Mohammed Raza, 26, of Northside Terrace, Lidget Green, Bradford, was seen by the po-lice dealing cocaine and cannabis in the district.

Officers caught him dealing drugs from his own car in Bradford and he was arrested.

He had 1.13 grams of cocaine in seven packages and 2.23g of cannabis in two packages, with a street value of £45 and £19 respectively, in the incident on November 10, 2020.

A total of £205 cash and three mobile phones, which featured contacts for drug dealing, were also found in Raza’s car. He was dealing to reduce his drug debt, Bradford Crown Court was told.

He was a driver in a ‘ring and bring’ system where drugs would be dealt on the streets.

Raza, who had no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to the two charges on the morn-ing of his trial.

Andrew Dallas, mitigating, said he was addicted to cocaine and was taking cannabis at the time of the offence. Raza had run into debt with his drug supplier and took to street dealing to pay off his debt.

Mr Dallas said: “He has made determined attempts to stay off drugs, but he is drinking too much.

“He was vulnerable in his life at the time. He is a man of previous good character.

“He was addicted to cocaine and taking cannabis. At the time, his marriage was break-ing up. He was extremely upset. He was not working regularly.

“He could not earn enough to pay for his drug use. In the two years since this offence, there has been no repetition of this kind of behaviour.”

Raza was jailed for a total of two years for two charges of possession with intent to sup-ply a controlled drug of class A – cocaine and class B – cannabis.

He was jailed for two years for the cocaine charge and six months to run concurrently for the cannabis offence.

Sentencing, Recorder Judy Dawson told Raza: “You were a good character prior to this event.

“It is quite clear you were street dealing in a ‘ring and bring’ service. It is a serious of-fence. You have stayed out of trouble to some extent since. You still have a problem with alcohol.”

The forfeiture of the cocaine and cannabis and cash found on Raza was also ordered by the judge.

A FORMER English teacher and sports coach at Malsis School was jailed for sexually abusing 18 youngsters more than 30 years ago.

Peter Holmes, now 73, was imprisoned for 12 years as the judge who locked him up praised the courage of the now middle-aged men who had given evidence against him at a trial in May.

Some of the complainants, who must not be identified for legal reasons, were at Brad-ford Crown Court to see Holmes sentenced.

Judge Ahmed Nadim heard four victim impact statements read out in court.

“I would like to commend each and every one of the complainants for the courage that they have shown in coming forward and contributing to the delivery of justice,” the judge said.

“The giving of evidence by, if I may say so, middle-aged men with families and careers about the sexual abuse of them while they were children could not have been easy at all.

“It is hoped that each of them is better able to move forward in their respective lives in the knowledge that their abuser has been finally brought to justice.”

Holmes, of King Street, Bristol, denied more than 40 charges relating to allegations of sexual abuse involving young boys.

The jury found him guilty of 29 offences, including indecent assaults and gross indecen-cy with children which sometimes took place in his flat at the school.

Prosecutor Michael Morley said Holmes had been employed at the Glusburn school be-tween 1976 and 1991 as an English teacher and a rugby and cricket coach.

He outlined details of a series of allegations which included an incident when Holmes instructed a boy to massage him and allegations that he would rub Deep Heat cream on youngsters' legs.

During police interviews Holmes denied any sexual abuse or improper conduct.

The jury heard that police inquiries were carried out into matters at the school in the 1990s and although Holmes was not the focus of that investigation his name and behav-iour was raised as a matter of concern.

The investigation went no further at that time because Holmes had moved abroad.

In the 1980s one youngster did make a complaint about Holmes' behaviour but he con-tinued abuse boys until he left the school.

Judge Nadim said Holmes had a reputation as a person to be feared.

“Your reputation as a bully helped in the securing of your victims’ silence.”

Holmes, who now suffers from arthritis and limited mobility, will have to register as a sex offender with the police for rest of his life.

Judge Nadim made him the subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

Barrister Edward Hetherington, for Holmes, said he described himself as “a broken down 73-year-old” and he was no longer the man who terrified and imposed himself on young boys.