Bradford’s father’s “you know the game, officer” smack backfires in spectacular fashion

A Bradford dad is starting a prison sentence of more than six years after being involved in Class A drug dealing and another incident of dangerous driving.

Basit Ali Khan’s drugs offense happened more than two years ago, but his latest driving offence, which involved a police chase at speeds of up to 90mph in a 30mph zone, was committed last July.

Jailing Khan at Bradford Crown Court on Friday for a total of 78 months Recorder Ayesha Smart highlighted his three convictions for dangerous driving and nine previous driving while disqualified offences.

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Recorder Smart said Khan, 27, of Pemberton Drive, Bradford, also had a previous conviction for offenses involving crack cocaine and heroin. In November 2021, Khan and his co-defendant Mohammed Idrees, 26, were stopped by police in a VW Passat containing around £290 in cash and a claw hammer.

Mobile phones linked to the two defendants revealed they were involved in the supply of Class A drugs through a drug ring.

The court heard that although the drug offenses date from February 2020 to November 2021, the two men were not charged with any offenses until the end of 2023. In August last year Idrees, of Moore Avenue, Wibsey, had been jailed for 78 months for separate Class A drug offences.

Father-of-two Khan, who is married and worked as an office worker for a taxi firm, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, driving without insurance and possession of cannabis with intent to provide. He was also found guilty by a jury of being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin, possession with intent to supply class A drugs and possession of cash for offences.

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Idrees pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin and possession of the claw hammer as an offensive weapon.

As Idrees is already serving a 78-month sentence for similar drug conviction Recorder Smart, he had to decide what his total sentence would have been if all his offending back had been dealt with together last August. She told Idrees that his sentence would be increased by 12 months, meaning he would have to serve another six months behind bars before he could be released.

Barrister Andrew Walker, for Khan, said the dangerous driving offence, which involved a police chase near Bradford city center at around 5.30am, happened when there was very little traffic or pedestrians around . The court heard that after Khan was detained, he claimed to be a passenger in the back seat of the Audi A4 and boasted: “You know the game, officer. I’ve gotten away with two of these before.”

Recorder Smart was shown police dashcam footage of the chase, which showed Khan driving through several red lights and a mini-roundabout before abandoning the Audi and attempting to flee. Mr Walker said phone messages relating to drug offenses indicated his client was being “ordered around” by others and was doing menial tasks for financial reward.

He argued the offense took place nearly three years ago and his client had not committed a driving offense since July last year.

Recorder Smart said there was a “significant backlog” of drug-related offenses and reduced sentences to account for this. She said Khan would be disqualified from driving again for a total of 87 months and warned he would have to pass an extended driving test before he could get his licence.