A TOP Bradford detective today spoke of his pride after he was honoured by West Yorkshire Police for his 30 years of crimefighting.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Snow, of the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team, was chosen to receive the prestigious Denis Hoban Award, at the Force's annual awards ceremony.

Det Chief Insp Snow was given the award for 30 years of "outstanding contribution to crime investigation, leading to the imprisonment of many offenders for considerable sentences and getting justice for families involved."

Superintendent Vince Firth, of Bradford District Safeguarding, was also honoured as the joint winner of the outstanding leadership award, for creating a 'partnership' response to tackling Child Sexual Exploitation.

And the Volunteer of the Year Award went to Hishaam Mohammed, who has attended 40 events and done 183 hours of voluntary work supporting Bradford neighbourhood policing teams in the last 12 months.

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Det Chief Insp Snow, who retires later this year, said he did not expect to win his award.

He said: "From a personal and professional perspective it is amazing to receive such a fantastic accolade. I was chuffed to bits to be recognised in such a way."

Det Chief Insp Snow has spent most of his career as a detective in the Bradford district and has been involved with numerous high profile cases leading to long prison sentences for serious criminals.

They have included the recent cases of Wakar Akhtar and Danish Irfan.

Akhtar, 21, of Canterbury, Bradford, is now serving a 17-year jail sentence for conspiracy to rape after he was extradited from Italy. Akhtar had fled the country after giving evidence in his trial at Bradford Crown Court. He was convicted in his absence. Det Chief Insp Snow and his team worked with Interpol to track down Akhtar and return him to the UK.

Irfan, 22, was convicted of the murder of his wife, and sentenced to life imprisonment last year. He flew to Pakistan on a false passport after killing 21-year-old Ridda Zanab at their home in Alford Terrace, Lidget Green, in November 2013. West Yorkshire detectives, led by Det Chief Insp Snow, negotiated with Pakistani authorities and Irfan was persuaded to voluntarily return to the UK to face trial.

During Det Chief Insp Snow's career, numerous gangsters have been extradited from European countries and major operations carried out against Bradford-based 'drugs and guns' gangs, resulting in many substantial prison sentences.

But Det Chief Insp Snow said there were still two outstanding cases he wanted to resolve - the murders of Mohammed Basharat and Sajid Saddique.

Negotiations remain ongoing with US authorities to extradite Ricardo Linton, prime suspect in the execution-style killing of taxi driver Mr Basharat, in Little Horton, in October 2001.

Two men were released on bail after being arrested on suspicion of the murder of businessman Sajid Saddique, 32, of Heaton, who vanished on Valentine's Day 2007 after attending a business meeting in Shipley. The case is still under review.