BEHIND BARS: The criminals who have been jailed in Bradford this week

A MAN was labelled a public danger and jailed for 14 years after two householders were violently assaulted at night by masked raiders demanding money.

Mark Hall and an accomplice carried out the attacks on vulnerable men in their own homes, Bradford Crown Court heard.

An elderly victim was punched to the floor and £60 rifled from his wallet in a robbery in the Low Moor area of Bradford on December 6, 2018. The assailants threatened to shoot him, leaving his wife terrified.

Three weeks later, Hall and another man struck again, carrying out an aggravated burglary at a nearby property in which the householder was struck on the head with a baseball bat and a crowbar.

He bravely defended himself; holding shut a door although his arm was in a sling, prosecutor Eddison Flint said.

Hall, 50, of Hydale Court, Low Moor, was convicted after a trial of robbery, criminal damage and aggravated burglary.

Recorder Kama Melly QC labelled him a danger to the public and sentenced him to a 17-year extended prison term comprising 14 years in custody and an extended three-year licence period.

Mr Flint said the victims of the robbery were a couple who were both well into their seventies. The husband had limited mobility and his wife had been left terrified.

The man was standing in his doorway when two men in face-coverings came up the drive.

One described the elderly victim as “an old bastard” before he was punched to the floor. He had recently undergone surgery and he was unable to get up, the court was told.

The robbers demanded “the safe” before stealing £60 from the victim’s wallet. They smashed his phone, leading to the charge of criminal damage.

They then fled the scene, driving off at speed in a getaway car.

On December 30, 2018, Hall struck again, also with an accomplice, targeting a couple’s home nearby. Both were armed with weapons.

The male householder had his arm in a sling when he was hit with a baseball bat and a crowbar.

The intruders shouted: “Give me the money” in front of his terrified wife.

He put up a struggle and succeeded in holding shut a door, leaving the raiders to flee empty-handed.

The elderly woman who witnessed her husband being robbed said: “I have never been so scared in my while life.”

Her victim impact statement stated that she had been left very afraid and didn’t go out.

“It’s going to take us a very long time to get over this,” she said.

The victim of the aggravated burglary sustained a dislocated shoulder, cuts to his head that left his face covered in blood, and marks to his back.

He now suffered from anxiety, sleeplessness and depression. He had been unable to continue at work and his shoulder was permanently damaged.

He spent the nights studying the CCTV looking for intruders and he struggled to open the door to strangers.

His wife was left feeling horribly anxious. They had sold their home and she had since left the country, the court was told.

Hall was arrested on January 19, 2020 and denied the offences. He was convicted after a trial and sentenced on a video link to HMP Leeds where he was remanded.

He had 24 previous convictions for 44 offences, including a robbery in 2008 and a burglary in 2005.

His barrister, Andrea Parnham, said he had conquered an addiction to drugs and was out of trouble for ten years before becoming dependant on alcohol and reoffending.

He was studying English and Maths in prison and planning to do an Open University degree.

Hall had strong motivation to free himself from addiction and to lead an honest and productive life, Miss Parnham said.

Recorder Melly said he had demonstrated a willingness to use gratuitous violence against innocent members of the public in their own homes.

He was jailed for four years for the robbery and ten years for the aggravated burglary, the sentences to run consecutively.

Recorder Melly passed an extended sentence totalling 17 years, including a three year licence period, because Hall met the legal criteria for dangerousness.

TWO men were jailed after the police smashed a “well organised and highly lucrative” cannabis supply ring by seizing an Audi containing a drugs ledger and more than £400,000 in cash.

The gang was trafficking kilos of the Class B drug in Bradford, Keighley, Halifax and Doncaster, prosecutor Ashleigh Metcalfe told Bradford Crown Court.

The police made five seizures of cannabis during an operation to bust the organisation ­amounting to 2.l kilos of the drug.

A ledger seized from the boot of an abandoned Audi contained evidence of the sale of £800,000 of cannabis, Miss Metcalfe said. Police also found £427,693 in cash in the vehicle.

Daanyal Yasin, 23, of Palin Avenue, Bradford Moor, Bradford, and Khizer Hussain, 39, whose address was given as HMP Leeds, were jailed for their roles in the conspiracy and its aftermath.

Yasin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cannabis. Hussain admitted conspiracy to burgle and possession of criminal property with Yasin, and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Yasin also admitted dangerous driving and driving without a licence or insurance, and over the drug limit. The court heard he crashed into three vehicles during a high-speed police chase.

The court heard that Yasin was a trusted lieutenant in the supply ring for at least 14 months. His name appeared 19 times in the drugs ledger when he made a written record of the sale of more than four kilos of cannabis.

He was imprisoned for three years and two months and banned from driving for 12 months after his release from custody.

Hussain was jailed for two years and nine months.

In mitigation for Hussain, it was stated that he was very lightly convicted from a long time ago and could lead a law-abiding life. He had been in custody since his arrest on July 31 last year.

Jeremy Hill-Baker, for Yasin, said he was a young man of good character before getting involved with the drugs ring.

“He was a very small player in what was going on. He was effectively a street dealer under the direction of others. He was being used to sell drugs and to deliver a parcel and some records to those above him,” Mr Hill-Baker said.