The criminals who were jailed at Bradford Crown Court this week

Hanif (Image: West Yorkshire Police)

A BRADFORD crack cocaine dealer was jailed for six years and eight months after flouting a suspended sentence order imposed six months earlier for similar offences.  

The judge sentencing Mohammed Hanif at Bradford Crown Court said it seemed he had no intention of stopping his drugs trafficking enterprise.  

Hanif, 22, of Dawnay Road, Little Horton, pleaded guilty on a video link to HMP Leeds to possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply on May 30.  

He was in breach of two suspended sentence orders, the second imposed by the court in November last year for selling Class A drugs.  

The court heard that the latest offending was detected after Hanif was spotted driving fast towards Keighley Road in Bradford at 2pm. He hit the kerb and came to a stop but then reversed, almost hitting the police vehicle.  

An officer who managed to snatch his car keys saw Hanif fumbling with a plastic jar he was attempting to conceal. He was handcuffed and the jar and phones seized from the vehicle.  

A search of his address uncovered a bag in his wardrobe containing more drugs.  

In all, there were 20 wraps of crack cocaine and five of heroin in the jar and 110 wraps of ‘crack’ in the wardrobe.  

Hanif told the police they were for his own use and made no further comment.  

He had previous convictions for possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.  

Gerald Hendron conceded in mitigation that his client was in a very difficult position because of the previous chances he was given. He had complied to some extent with the suspended sentence order and not totally disengaged with it.  

This was Hanif’s first custodial sentence and Mr Hendron accepted that it would have to be lengthy. But he was still a young man who hoped to rebuild this life when he was released.  

Judge Sophie McKone said Hanif was out and about on the streets of the city on May 30 selfishly peddling a dangerous drug that caused antisocial behaviour and led people to steal to buy it.  

It was his business and he played a significant role in the enterprise to make money.  

Judge McKone said he was given a chance in November last year because of his young age and caring responsibilities for his father.  

“It seems to me that you never had any intention of stopping, despite the fact that you were a carer for your father,” she told him.  

He was jailed for 40 months, plus 20 months each for the breaches, all to run consecutively, adding up to a total sentence of six years and eight months. 

Simpson (Image: West Yorkshire Police)

A MAN was jailed for two and a half years for a ‘campaign’ of stealing motorcycles in Bradford. 

Frankie Simpson had notched up 21 convictions and was on prison licence when he committed the offences in March and April. 

Simpson, 21, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to stealing a motorbike on April 7, burgling a shed and stealing a second motorcycle between April 6 and 9, and handling a stolen car on April 22.  

He also admitted dangerous driving on April 8 and 22 and possession of cannabis. 

The theft was from an employee working at Morrisons on Cutler Heights Lane in Bradford. After he had parked his motorcycle in the bike shelter, security officers at the site told him it had been stolen. CCTV footage showed a male in a balaclava making off with it. 

The burglary victim saw his shed door wide open at 3am. He had locked it but the Yamaha motorcycle secured inside it had gone.  

Two males were caught on CCTV using bolt cutters to force entry to the shed. The man put stills up on social media and Simpson was identified. He had tried to sell the machine on Snapchat for £1,000. 

On April 8 at 10.30pm the police saw Simpson driving a VW Passat. He made off at speed towards the M606 then turned round before the officers lost sight of him. 

They went to an address in Bradford linked to him and recovered the stole bikes. 

On April 22, Simpson was at the wheel of a stolen Citroen C1 on Halifax Road in Bradford at midnight. He accelerated off in the car on false plates and the police gave chase.  

Simpson drove off-road across pavements and grassed areas and went up to 80mph on Harrogate Road. 

The car came to an abrupt stop on Ravenscliffe Avenue and four males got out. Simpson made off towards some woods and was chased and detained. 

He was banned from driving at the time and in possession of a bag of cannabis. 

His convictions included robbery, burglary, theft, dangerous driving, taking without consent and handling stolen goods. 

Simpson’s barrister, Alasdair Campbell, conceded that his client was criminally experienced but submitted that he had had a very difficult upbringing and got in with the wrong crowd. 

He was starting to change and grow up and he was now supported by his partner who was expecting his child. 

Judge Ahmed Nadim said the evidence suggested that Simpson and others were involved in a campaign of stealing motorbikes and some of his offending had involved significant planning and targeting. 

He was banned from driving for four years and three months and until he passes an extended retest. 

Twaites (Image: North Yorkshire Police)

A ‘DANGEROUS’ pervert was jailed for four years after he was trapped by a paedophile hunter group for the second time. 

Robert Twaites was given a community order in 2018 that included a condition that he took part in a specialist sex offender programme. 

Bradford Crown Court heard that he had been caught by a paedophile hunter group sending sexually explicit messages to decoys posing as girls aged 13 and 14 and trying to meet up with them. 

Despite completing the Horizon Programme, he was back online in January this year trying to meet up for sexual activity with what he believed was a girl aged 13. 

Prosecutor Philip Standfast said Twaites engaged in conversations with the decoy saying he liked to go on dates and offering to buy her presents. 

He suggested they could ‘meet in the woods’ but after he failed to turn up, members of the paedophile hunter group confronted him at his home and contacted the police. 

When officers examined his phone, they found prohibited images of children. 

Twaites, 33, of New Village, Ingleton, North Yorkshire, admitted charges relating to his attempts to cause or incite a child to engage sexual activity and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child. 

Julian White, for Twaites, described his behaviour as self-destructive and said it was mind-boggling that he would continue to behave in the way he had. 

“He went through the necessary rehabilitative process, but notwithstanding that, he continued to offend in an identical manner,” Mr White said. 

He described Twaites as an isolated and lonely individual. 

Judge Sophie McKone said that despite his denials, he had a sexual interest in children and posed a high risk of serious harm to them. 

Although no real child was involved, if there had been he would have gone through with the intended abuse. 

Judge McKone jailed Twaites for four years and added an extra two years’ licence because he was a dangerous offender. 

He will only be released by the Parole Board after serving two-thirds of his jail term if they decide it is safe to do so. 

Twaites will also have to register as a sex offender with the police for the rest of his life and he must comply with an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order. 

Davies (Image: West Yorkshire Police)

A MAN aged 20 was locked up for nine years after a teenage boy was chased and slashed with a knife in a street attack. 

The victim aged 16 was left with a scarred face from the assault by Leighton Davies in Halifax in August last year. 

Davies was sentenced as ‘a dangerous offender’ after Bradford Crown Court heard that he had a history of violent behaviour that included an earlier conviction for wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm when he was 16. 

Recorder Simon Kealey KC said the nine-year sentence in a young offender institution, plus an extended licence period of two years, was necessary to protect the public. 

Davies, of Rawson Avenue, Halifax, must serve at least two-thirds of the custodial term before he is considered for release by the Parole Board. 

The court heard that the 16-year-old victim was out with friends when Davies became involved in an argument with one of them. He asked the boy what he was looking at before shouting ‘get the Rambo.’ 

The boy ran off in fear but Davies chased after him carrying ‘a small sword.’ 

The court heard that he swung the weapon multiple times, striking the complainant once causing a deep cut to his cheek that had left him facially scarred. 

Davies pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily in relation to that incident. He also admitted a series of other charges involving separate incidents of violence on other occasions. 

He admitted affray, assault and possession of a knife in relation to an incident in December 2021 when he and other males surrounded a youth in Hipperholme after they saw him buying cannabis. 

Davies ‘prodded’ the complainant in the chest with a knife and the youth later realised he had suffered a cut to his chest that needed stitches. 

Davies also admitted offences of assault involving a third victim. 

Solicitor advocate, John Bottomley, mitigating for Davies, highlighted medical reports on his client that revealed he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his childhood and lived in ‘a heightened state of anxious arousal.’ 

Recorder Kealey said there was a pattern of serious violent behaviour in Davies’ offending and his previous convictions also included serious violence. 

“I am of the opinion that there is a significant risk to members of the public of serious harm by the commission by you of further specified offences,” he told him. 

Conka and Ficzu (Image: West Yorkshire Police)

A MAN was left with a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain after he was set upon by three armed attackers in broad daylight on a Bradford street. 

Two of the assailants were locked up at Bradford Crown Court after the violence in which the victim was struck with a stick and a spade and a brick was lobbed at him. 

The ringleader, Jozef Ficzu, 25, of Killinghall Road, Laisterdyke, Bradford, was jailed for three years and one month. 

Kristian Conka, 20, of Woodhall Road, Thornbury, Bradford, was sent to a young offender institution for a total of three and a half years for the attack and a street robbery in Bradford city centre. 

Ficzu’s brother, Arnold Ficzu, 18, also of Killinghall Road, was spared an immediate custodial sentence. He was just 16 at the time with no convictions before or since. 

All three were charged with Section 18 GBH but their guilty pleas to the lesser offence of unlawful wounding were accepted by the Crown. 

Ayman Khokhar, prosecuting, said the attack took place on Killinghall Road just after 7pm on August 23, 2021. 

The man and his partner were walking in the street when the group spotted them. 

Jozef Ficzu had been in a disagreement with the victim some time earlier, the court was told. 

Conka crossed over to the couple carrying a wooden plank but went past them. 

Arnold Ficzu, who had a spade and a plank, then headed towards them but he was overtaken by his brother who hit the man with a stick. 

Arnold Ficzu then struck him with the spade and Conka went for him but failed to make contact, Mr Khokhar said. 

The man was hit a couple more times with a stick and Jozef Ficzu threw a brick at him, narrowly missing his head. 

His brother followed the couple holding a brick while Conka threw sticks. 

The man was pursued to outside Killinghall Fisheries when he was assaulted again. 

He collapsed to the ground bleeding and unconscious. 

The three made off before the police and ambulance crew arrived. 

The victim was taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary and transferred to St James’ Hospital in Leeds. He sustained a fractured skull, a bleed on the brain, a broken finger and cuts and bruising and spent two weeks in hospital. 

Jozef Ficzu was identified on CCTV as the main culprit and his brother and Conka were also arrested. All made no comment when questioned. 

Conka, who was before the court on a link with HMP Doncaster, was also sentenced for a robbery on February 14 this year. 

He grabbed his male victim in an alleyway on Lower Kirkgate at 10.30am and ordered him to empty his pockets and hand over his phone and money. 

He threatened to push him over a wall and knocked off his glasses, the court heard. 

However, the man resisted and got Conka in a headlock but he managed to run off. 

He fled from the police on Wellington Street and was apprehended on Wapping Road after a pursuit. 

Members of the public alerted the police with descriptions of the assailant and an office worker photographed Conka from a window. 

He had nine previous convictions for robbery. 

Jozef Ficzu had eight convictions for 26 offences, including possession of an offensive weapon and assault by beating. 

Paul Canfield, for Conka, said he was 18 at the time of the GBH and had been remanded in HMP Doncaster since February.  

He wasn’t part of the initial attack but threw sticks at the victim that luckily missed him.

No weapon was used in the robbery. Conka was addicted to drugs but he was now clear of them and very remorseful.  

Vincent Blake-Barnard, for Jozef Ficzu, said the offence was almost two years’ old. 

Ficzu had come to the United Kingdom from Slovakia when he was 16. He attended college and had held down jobs. 

Recorder Simon Kealey KC said the GBH victim had suffered a grave injury. He was in hospital for two weeks and left with double vision. 

Conka was locked up for 32 months, plus ten months for the robbery to run consecutively, making three and a half years. 

Jozef Ficzu was jailed for 37 months 

Arnold Ficzu was sentenced to 12 months’ custody, suspended for 18 months, with 300 hours of unpaid work, a six-month curfew and 20 rehabilitation activity days.