Young people attended a celebration evening after completing a nine-week scheme designed to steer them away from a life of crime.

The Manningham and Girlington Influencing Change (Magic) project was founded by reformed drug dealer Arfan Naseer, who said he changed his outlook on life after a nine-year jail sentence and wanted to inspire others to keep away from crime.

Mr Naseer, 28, of Girlington, Bradford, came up with the project, involving West Yorkshire Police and the Bradford West co-ordinator’s office.

A dozen young people attended a celebration event after completing the nine-week scheme, where they were mentored by Mr Naseer and included hard-hitting workshops looking at knife and gun crime, drugs and arson.

Mr Naseer said the project’s participants would now act as ambassadors to future groups of young people who wanted to get involved in the Magic scheme.

Mr Naseer said: “The event was absolutely wonderful. We asked the young people to come up with speeches.

“I’m proud of all of them – some came up with a speech, some off the top of their heads, and they were amazed by the amount of people and organisations that were in the room.”