TWO drug pushers have been locked up for selling cocaine on the streets of Keighley and adding to the “plague” of drug-dealing that has afflicted the town.

Jail sentences of three years were handed out to Lee O’Connor and two years and 11 months to Jordan Lonsdale who jointly or singly peddled cocaine to an undercover police officer in September and October last year.

The pair were caught as a result of Operation Saintpond, which targets Class A drug supply in West and North Yorkshire.

At Bradford Crown Court His Honour Judge Colin Burn said the rationale for the operation “seems to be a perennial and very serious problem with Class A drug-dealing in a relatively small town, namely Keighley.

“Unfortunately the town regrettably has acted as some sort of a magnet for people who want to indulge in Class A drug-dealing.”

He added: “It is an obligation of the court to support efforts made by the police who have quite properly ploughed significant resources into an operation that is not without significant risk.

“Keighley is either the top of the pile, or second top, in the whole of the Bradford metropolitan area when it comes to Class A drug problems. That is another reason why there has been this targeted operation.

“[Drug-dealing] is not only well-known as a vehicle for making money but also it’s well known to many, many residents who are law-abiding in Keighley who are plagued by it.”

Prosecutor Jessica Lister told the court how Lonsdale and O’Connor together sold wraps of cocaine to the undercover on two occasions, and then separately on one other occasion each.

Miss Lister said the pair responded to calls on a “ring and buy” drugs line that allowed users to order drugs.

Between September 9 and October 27, 2023, the undercover officer made four purchases including twice from a car driven by O’Connor with Lonsdale in the passenger seat.

On one occasion the officer saw them holding a bag containing at least 20 grip seal bags of cocaine.

The pair were interviewed on May 5 this year and gave “no comment” answers to all questions asked. They later pleaded guilty to supplying a controlled drug of Class A.

Whilst on bail Lonsdale, with another man, burgled a locked outhouse in Oxenhope, taking a car battery and car keys. He and the other man were caught on the same night with the accomplice receiving 20 weeks imprisonment suspended for 12 months.

In a statement read to the court Inspector John Barker said drug traffickers such as O’Connor and Lonsdale were “feeding the problem” of ongoing anti-social behaviour in Keighley including criminal damage linked to drug dealing.

He said members of the public wanted the police to do more to “eradicate” such behaviour in the town centre, which was impacting people, communities, and businesses.

Mitigating for Lonsdale, 30, of Dawson Road, Keighley, Nathan Davis argued that the police’s statement was “generic” and did not directly address the circumstances of Lonsdale’s case, where “unsophisticated” offending was borne out of a drug addiction and a drug debt.

He said there was “nothing identifiable” in the statement that directly related to his client and said: “Class A drugs are prevalent in every town and city in this country.”

Mitigating for O’Connor, 33, of Damems Lane, Keighley, Olivia Fraser said he began selling drugs to fund his own cocaine addiction. She said: “He was told where to go and what to do by others. He had very little understanding of the scale of the operation.”

Sentencing O’Connor and Lonsdale, His Honour Judge Colin Burn said there was no evidence that they were organising others in a “grand drugs chain”.

However, he said both men had been in possession of the drug line number at the point that drugs were being delivered to customers, and as such they were more than just couriers.

He said: “You both knew what you were doing, and you both understood the nature of the undertaking that you were involved in.”