THE HIGH number of Bradford criminals finding the time to care for aged and infirm relatives has long been a talking point among Telegraph & Argus readers.

A trawl through the comments section on court cases on our Facebook page will soon uncover scepticism and even hilarity about the popular line of mitigation advanced in many cases at Bradford Crown Court.

People are often moved to publicly speculate on how housebreakers, danger drivers and drug dealers, abroad in the city at all hours, can possibly be fulfilling their responsible roles as carers for elderly and ill relatives.

And some judges too have questioned the ability of those before them in the dock to perform their duties as carers while out and about at night committing crimes.

Today, another judge made observations on the subject when sentencing a young man for drugs trafficking offences who was said to help to care for his parents.

Judge Andrew Hatton was moved to remark: “The city’s full of people looking after their aged parents… or maybe it’s just the people coming through these doors that do it.”