A drug dealer who provided a sawn-off shotgun for an undercover police officer has been jailed for nine years.

Raja Hanif , 24, obtained the firearm when the officer pretended he was in dispute with another man over a drugs debt.

Prosecutor Andrew Kershaw told Bradford Crown Court yesterday that Hanif offered to have the other man beaten up, but the undercover officer, known as Daz, insisted he wanted to use a firearm.

“The accused was suggesting that to intimidate properly, it would be a good idea to spray his house with shot,” Mr Kershaw said.

An arrangement was made, through a contact, for a gun to be taken from Birmingham to Bradford for £2,000.

Hanif upped the price to £2,300, but Daz haggled him down to £2,050.

Mr Kershaw said a co-accused, Ifzan Ishtiaq, arrived, with a gun up his sleeve, at the block of flats where Hanif was living in Canal Road, Bradford.

Daz buzzed the bell to the flat and Hanif released the lock on the downstairs door – allowing firearms officers to rush upstairs.

Mr Kershaw said officers at the rear of the building saw the gun, a bag, latex gloves and two mobile phones come out a window of the flat.

The gun was a double-barrelled shotgun, of Spanish origin in poor condition but working order. The barrels had been reduced in size, making it a prohibited weapon.

Hanif pleaded guilty to possessing a prohibited firearm, a number of charges of supplying or offering to supply class A and B drugs, and criminal damage and attempting to pervert the course of justice, when he smashed windows at a house to intimidate a man who had complained about suggestive remarks Hanif had made to his wife.

Hanif carried out several drug deals with Daz, who was acting under cover in Calderdale.

Hanif’s barrister, Stephen Wood, said his client was acting as a go-between. There was no evidence that he was supplying class A drugs to anyone other than the police officer.

The judge, Recorder Paul Isaacs, said he had read testimonials from former teachers of Hanif and he was saddened that a boy of such promise had let people down.

He accepted Hanif was approached by police test purchase officers, but that was the only way they could find out who was prepared to supply drugs.

He added: “The courts, and the public at large, consider even the simple possession of firearms, and particularly those that are adapted to be used unlawfully, as very serious matters.”

He said the sentence would have been longer if the firearm was to be used for a serious crime rather than intimidating someone.

Hanif was sentenced to five years for the firearms offence and a further four years for the drugs offences.

The case of Ushtiaq, 28, of Craven Terrace, Halifax, who was to be sentenced for the possession of a prohibited firearm, was adjourned for further medical reports.

Detective Inspector Gary Stephenson, of Calderdale CID, said: “The sentence clearly reflects the seriousness of dealing drugs.”

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