Halifax drug dealer jailed after getting caught with crack cocaine and cannabis

Ahsan Masood was arrested and searched for the first time last May after police stopped a car in Gibbet Street shortly after midnight.

Bradford Crown Court heard that officers found some cannabis in the car which Masood had been a passenger in and the defendant also had a bag on him containing hundreds of pounds in notes and change.

Three mobile phones, including one containing “a credit list”, were seized and when Masood was searched at the police station a plastic bag contains five rocks of crack cocaine were was found on his right ankle.

During a strip search a further small amount of cocaine was recovered and officers also found cannabis, heroin, electronic scales and over £1000 in cash at Masood’s home.

The Recorder of Bradford Judge Roger Thomas QC heard that Masood claimed the cash was “wages” from work in a supermarket and he denied owning any of the phones which contained drug-related messages.

Masood, of Blackwood Grove, Halifax, was bailed, but in June police officers discovered 50 wraps of heroin and cocaine which had been discarded in the rear of one of their vehicles.

The court heard that Masood had been in the vehicle two days earlier and tests later linked him to those abandoned drugs.

A few days after the discovery of the drugs in the police car Masood was stopped in another vehicle after reports of drug dealing in the Otley Street area of Halifax.

Masood tried to run off and discarded various items which later turned out to contain another 50 wraps of crack cocaine.

He was bailed again after making “no comment” in his police interview, but he was finally jailed after he admitted a series of offences including possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply

Barrister Jayne Beckett, for Masood, said there were obviously people “running” her client and he was not a sophisticated criminal.

She explained that he had not committed any offences until last year, but he ran up a debt after starting to take drugs.

Mrs Beckett revealed that at one stage Masood had taken out a £4000 bank loan to pay off some of the debts.

She said his time in custody over the last few months had been a massive wake-up call for Masood.

“He now feels a sense of shame and wishes he could turn the clock back but he cannot,” she added.

Judge Thomas said Masood had been involved in “out and out Class A (drugs) street dealing”.