A drugs offender has been jailed for more than five years after being caught operating as a street-level Class A dealer in Bradford.
Khuram Shahzad received a prison term of 2,045 days from Recorder Simon Eckersley at Bradford Crown Court.
The 27-year-old will spend approximately half that period incarcerated, with the remainder served under supervised release conditions.
Police officers operating in plain clothes observed Shahzad inside a vehicle alongside another male on June 29.
The car was subsequently stopped and both occupants searched.
Officers recovered a mobile telephone that was connected to a power source, and the device contained self-portrait photographs identifying Shahzad as its user.
Forensic examination of the device by a police specialist uncovered communication records consistent with the sale of heroin and crack cocaine.
The evidence positioned Shahzad as an active street-level distributor of Class A substances.
The second occupant of the vehicle, a minor whose identity is legally protected, has a upcoming trial.
The defendant, whose address was recorded as Tern Street in Canterbury, declined to answer questions during police questioning, invoking his legal entitlement to remain silent.
The prosecution established that Shahzad functioned operationally within a distribution chain, coordinating the activities of another individual, and held substantial responsibilities in street-level sales.
Shahzad had accumulated prior criminal convictions for drug-related offences.
In December 2025, he had received a sentence of five-and-a-half years for comparable offences.
The defendant entered guilty pleas to charges relating to involvement in supplying heroin and crack cocaine.
Defence representatives presented information concerning Shahzad’s history of substance dependency, with initial involvement in cannabis during adolescence.
Financial obligations reportedly prompted his resumption of illegal drug distribution.
The court accepted that Shahzad had returned to trafficking mere months following his liberation from custody.
Shahzad appeared for sentencing via video connection from HMP Leeds.
Recorder Eckersley observed that Shahzad had demonstrated awareness of the gravity of his conduct and the destructive consequences inflicted upon users, their familial and social networks, and the broader population through theft, aggression, and public disorder linked to substance dependency.
The judicial officer noted that Shahzad’s prior record substantially heightened the severity of the current offences, characterising him as an established trafficker with multiple previous convictions.
The recorder expressed confidence that the defendant had been explicitly cautioned during his prior sentencing regarding the inevitable repercussions should he engage in further offences.
Shahzad’s immediate return to distribution within a short period after his previous release was cited as an aggravating element that influenced the custodial term imposed.