Nozmul Alom from Keighley is jailed for drug dealing

Nozmul Alom is the latest man to be snared as part of an ongoing West Yorkshire Police operation to target areas of Keighley that have effectively become no-go areas for law-abiding people due to the amount of drug dealing taking place.

Sentencing 23-year-old Alom at Bradford Crown Court His Honour Judge Colin Burn said his offending had been aggravated by a community impact statement provided by a senior police officer that said residents of the town were being intimidated by drug pushers.

Judge Burn said the widespread selling of drugs in parts of the centre of Keighley was “making people’s lives a misery". 

“Not just genuine drug-users whose lives are made a perpetual misery by those who are prepared to supply them with these highly addictive and damaging drugs, but also people who have nothing to do with drugs who want to go about their business legitimately in the centre of Keighley and find that there are certain areas which are areas they don’t want to go into because, in their minds, probably accurately, those streets or areas are full of drug dealers," he said. 

Prosecutor Brogan Riley said Alom, of Nightingale Street, Keighley, was caught on camera making six separate sales of crack cocaine and heroin to the undercover officer on three occasions between September 21 and October 23 last year.

On each occasion the officer called a “ring and buy” drugs line and then met Alom to collect wraps of crack and heroin, paying £40 each time.

Alom was arrested on April 29 this year after handing himself into a police station following the execution of a warrant at his home address.

He gave “no comment” answers during an interview but later told police that he was dealing to pay off a drug debt.

That was later contradicted by comments he made for a pre-sentence report when he said: “Of course I was into it. I didn’t have a drug debt or anything.”

Miss Riley said Alom was not guilty of one-off street dealing but was instead in numerous deals.

The case was heard at Bradford Crown Court (Image: Newsquest)

Alom later pleaded guilty to six counts of supplying Class A drugs.

In a statement read to the court Insp John Barker, who heads the Keighley Neighbourhood Policing Team, spoke of the escalating public order and criminal damage incidents that had taken place and which were linked to organised crime gangs and drug supply within the Keighley area within the last two years.

He added: “The incidents are significantly impacting local residents, leaving them feeling both intimidated and fearful.

“Residents often call on the police to do more and deal with the level of criminality that they’re witnessing within their local community, much of which is related to retaliatory, intimidatory, and ultimately violent behaviour associated with the organised supply of Class A drugs within Keighley.”

Mitigating, Conor Quinn said Alom was of previous good character, was naïve, and had been exploited due to vulnerabilities that included a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and a low IQ that put him in the bottom six per cent of the population.

He said he was performing a limited function under direction that involved “taking all the risks for limited reward”.

He described Alom as a drugs runner who was “not involved in the wider criminality”, and called for a suspended sentence so that he could be afforded support and punishment in the community.

In sentencing Alom to 32 months in jail concurrently on all six counts, Judge Burn said he performed a “significant role” as he was involved in making some of the arrangements as well as delivering some of the drugs.

He said he got involved in “this nefarious trade” for “personal gain”.

He ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs seized.