‘Scourge on City’ peddled crack cocaine on Snapchat after ‘wrong turns in life’

A drug dealer – described as “a scourge on this town” – has been caught again after an undercover officer found him dealing Class A drugs in an alleyway near his home.

Hamza Ali, 28, pleaded guilty to four counts of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs – offenses which took place on four separate occasions in September and October last year.

Bradford Crown Court heard on Wednesday that Ali, of Skipton Road in Keighley, had a Snapchat account from his home address which he used to supply crack cocaine.

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Prosecutor Erin Kitson-Parker said: “On 25 September 2023 at around 1.15pm the (undercover) officer called the defendant. He did not respond and exchanged Snapchat messages requesting drugs and he (Ali) confirmed that he would supply.”

The officer met Ali in the lane near his home and bought two packets of crack cocaine for £20. Ms Kitson-Parker said this happened again on September 29 last year, October 9 last year and October 17 last year.

She said: “The total value was £80 for eight packs of cocaine. On one occasion, the defendant told the man that he had taken his cell phone and that he did not have access to Snapchat and gave him his personal number. Officers used recording equipment and he was identified in an ID parade. He was interviewed and did not respond with any comment.”

Ali was said to be on license at the time, having been convicted in March 2017 of possession of class A drugs with intent to supply. Ms Kitson-Parker said the offense was “almost identical in nature” to those for which she fell to be sentenced on Wednesday. He had another previous conviction for possession with intent to supply Class A drugs in 2020, meaning he fell short of being sentenced under the minimum term provisions as his record now contains three of the same offence.

Mitigating, Paul Canfield, told the court: “There are exceptional circumstances surrounding the defendant, perhaps you could move away from the minimum term and make a slight reduction in the sentencing guidelines.

“The license expired at the end of last year. That will be a significant aggravating factor even if you were not sentenced to a minimum term. He has family who are present in court. He is very close to his nieces and nephews and himself. he wanted to become a father He was released at the last opportunity, got married and couldn’t wait to start a new life.”

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The court heard Ali was looking for work and his wife had suffered a miscarriage at the time of the offences. She suffered another one in January this year. Mr Canfield said: “Of course, in my view, you could consider that because of the miscarriage that led to the offense being committed, those are circumstances relating to it and no minimum sentence is required.

“He took some wrong turns in life and threw his hands up.”

The Honorary Recorder of Bradford, His Honor Judge Rose jailed Ali for five years, seven months and seven days saying: “It cannot be said too often by the courts that the people involved in the supply of drugs in this city are a scourge on this city… You must be convicted of a third class A drug trafficking You – a loving husband and father-to-be is accused of doing this close to your home.