A DRUG trafficker described as “a scourge” on the city of Bradford has been jailed for more than five years after he was caught dealing crack cocaine in an alleyway outside his own home.

Bradford Crown Court heard how undercover police officers bought crack cocaine from Hamza Ali on four occasions in September and October 2023 after making deals via his Snapchat account.

Ali, 28, of Skipton Road in Keighley, had already served two lengthy jail sentences for drug dealing and was on licence at the time he was caught.

His Honour Judge Jonathan Rose said: “This city is entitled to be protected from your engaging in this evil trade by detaining you in prison for longer and longer periods of time.”

Prosecutor Erin Kitson-Parker said undercover officers sent Snapchat messages to Ali and then met him in an alleyway to buy wraps of crack cocaine.

The officers arranged deals on four occasions between September 25 and October 17 and, during one deal, there were other drug users present.

Ali was further identified when he used his own mobile phone to make deals.

During an interview, he replied “no comment” to all questions. He later pleaded guilty to supplying a controlled Class A drug.

The court heard he had several previous convictions for violence and drug-related offences, and had served prison sentences in 2017 and 2020 for supplying drugs from his address.

Mitigating, Paul Canfield said Ali had become a drug user after his wife suffered a miscarriage that affected his mental health and led to his re-offending.

Sentencing Ali, who appeared via video link from HMP Leeds, to 2,045 days in prison – or five years and seven months – Judge Rose said: “It cannot be said too often by these courts that the people who involve themselves in the supply of drugs in this city are a scourge on this city.

“They proliferate the drugs trade and proliferate other crimes as users, such as you claim to be, commit further crimes in order to fund their own drug habit.

“You know that better than anyone, perhaps, because today represents the third occasion in which you are to be sentenced for peddling Class A drugs in Bradford.

“Indeed you, the loving husband and would-be father, were peddling those drugs in very close proximity to your own home.

“The side of your character that is most probative today is of a man who sells Class A drugs, who has received two lengthy prison sentences, and has learned nothing from them.”

Judge Rose ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the cocaine, mobile phones, and drug paraphernalia.