Trainee accountant jailed for Harrogate drug deals

A trainee accountant has been jailed for dealing cocaine and an ecstasy-type drug in Harrogate.

Armaan Ahmad, 24, was arrested after his Audi A3 was stopped by police in April last year, York Crown Court heard.

Officers found 26 wraps of cocaine inside the car, along with six bags of MDMA in powder form, said prosecutor Rob Galley. They also seized £340 from his wallet and a mobile phone with incriminating text messages. Mr Galley added:

“(The messages) clearly show that this defendant was being directed to go to various post codes and addresses or directed to deal (drugs) to certain people.”

They showed that Ahmad’s drugs boss had ordered him to “count what was left” of the drugs and relay the amounts back to him using abbreviations and codes such as ‘P’ for ‘premium’ cocaine, “rather than standard cocaine”, said the prosecutor.

Armaan Ahmad has been sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment for dealing drugs in Harrogate

During the phone conversations, they also discussed his “wage” which on the day in question – April 18 – was £100 to deal “party drugs” in Harrogate and Leeds.

Ahmad – whose father runs a highly successful accountancy firm – sold £780 worth of drugs on that day, although he claimed he had only been dealing for two days. Mr Galley said:

“He had to hand matters over to somebody at a mosque in Leeds at the end of the day.”

‘Significant’ role

Ahmad had played a “significant” role as a drug runner or courier, added Mr Galley. The value of the cocaine seized from his car was about £380 but could have been worth a lot more if dealt on the street.

Ahmad, from Leeds, was said to have been very open with police and owned up straight away. He was charged with two counts of possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply and admitted both charges.

He appeared for sentence on Thursday in an immaculate dark-blue suit and tie, but knowing that jail was all but certain.

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Defence barrister Andrew Dallas described his well-spoken client as a “naïve” young man who had come under the spell of others higher up the supply chain. He said:

“He was misled, not realising what he was getting into.

“He’s from an excellent background and his father… is a successful accountant.”

Ahmad had passed his exams at school and found work straight away, but then lost his job after a contract expired and “couldn’t get other work”, said Mr Dallas.

He said this led Ahmad into debt after he took out a pay-day loan. A friend told him he could make “easy money” by drug-dealing and he fell into “temptation”.

‘Working under direction’

Ahmad, of Church Lane, Adel, began driving around the streets at night in “very risky and serious situations, working absolutely under direction and he had to provide a prices account and face (pay) deductions if anything went wrong”, added Mr Dallas.

“He realised he’d got himself into something bad.”

Since his arrest, Ahmad had had a rapprochement with his father, moved back into the family home and started working full-time for his father’s business as a trainee accountant. Mr Dallas said:

“He’s looking to enrol in exams so that he can follow his father into the profession. He’s quite clearly intelligent in some ways and astonishingly naïve in others.”

Judge Sean Morris told Ahmad:

“People are mugging people in the streets for drugs, robbing their own grannies for drugs, and they have to get them from somebody, and (in this case) they were getting them from you.

“This was proper drug-dealing – fortunately nipped in the bud. You did it calmly and coolly and you took part in this filthy trade.”

Jailing Ahmad for 20 months, the judge said he was “ordinarily a decent young man”. He added:

“It beggars belief that you got into this (sort of crime) and I know that the shame you have brought upon your family you will feel acutely.”

Ahmad will serve half of the sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.

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Ripon man jailed for city centre attack

A young robber has been jailed for nearly four years after a vicious attack in Ripon in which the victim was punched repeatedly and forced to hand over money.

Ethan Anderson, 20, who has a track record of serious violence, pounced on the victim as he walked through Ripon city centre, York Crown Court heard.

Anderson, a drug addict, was with a group of youths sitting on a park bench, who hurled abuse at the man as he tried to walk away, said prosecutor Caroline Abraham.

Anderson confronted the victim, an Asian man who was named in court, and said: “You think you’re hard, do you?”

He punched the victim in the face and struck him in the eye, said Ms Abraham.

The victim tried to run away but fell over and Anderson punched him in the head while he was laid on the ground.

He finally managed to get away, but a short time later Anderson and three other males confronted him again in a car park near Ripon Cathedral. Ms Abraham said:

“(Anderson) walked towards him and demanded money. The defendant put his right hand into his pocket and gestured (as if) he had a weapon.”

Anderson told the victim: “Do you know what I’ve got in my pocket? Give me your money.”

“The victim handed over £20 to (Anderson), who did not have a weapon,” added Ms Abraham.

The victim suffered injuries including a swollen eye, bruising to his cheek and a grazed hand.

Anderson, who was addicted to cocaine, was arrested after the victim identified him about a month after the attack at around 9pm on June 27 last year.

Lock knife

On October 15, Anderson was arrested again after police were called out to a “domestic” incident in Ripon. Officers searched him and found a lock knife in his pocket.

On December 8, police were called out to North Street in Ripon, where Anderson was seen waving a tyre iron in the air during an altercation with another man outside the Wonderland bar.

Just before the incident, Anderson could be heard “shouting for an individual inside the bar, saying he was going to smash his head in”, said Ms Abraham.

“Another male approached the defendant and an altercation ensued. The defendant was brandishing a metal tyre iron and waving it at the male, shouting ‘Come on then!’”

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Anderson was arrested but denied affray and possessing an offensive weapon. He was found guilty of the charges following a trial at Harrogate Magistrates’ Court in June.

He ultimately admitted the robbery in the Ripon car park and also pleaded guilty to possessing the lock knife in a separate incident.

Anderson – from Ripon but of no fixed address – appeared for sentence on all charges via video link on Monday. The court heard he had 14 previous convictions for 26 offences, mainly violence and public disorder.

His rap sheet included two previous convictions for robbery, as well as possessing weapons.

‘Drugs were my escape’

Defence barrister John Batchelor said Anderson was now apologetic for his behaviour following a period of “forced abstinence” from drugs while remanded in custody.

Anderson, a father-of-one, had written a letter to the court saying, “I did unforgiveable things” and “drugs were my avenue of escape”.

“The cause of these offences was drugs,” added Mr Batchelor.

Judge Sean Morris said it was “time for a shot across (Anderson’s) bows” following his third robbery conviction. He told Anderson:

“You have an appalling record for somebody of your age. The robbery was a nasty robbery and it was on a man who was just walking through town.

“You pursued him and you fleeced him, threatening that you had a weapon.”

Jailing Anderson for three years and nine months, the judge told him he had been given “chance after chance and some lenient sentences (in the past) and they haven’t worked”.