A Halifax father-of-two who got involved in Class A drug dealing for a third time has been jailed for more than five years.
Back in 2011 Sohail Taj was locked up for 45 months for drugs offences committed when he was just an 18-year-old and eight years later he was jailed again, this time for 38 months.
Bradford Crown Court heard today on Friday that Taj, of Lister Lane, was released from that second jail sentence in January 2021, but in October of that year he was pursued by a police officer and his PCSO colleague after they spotted suspected drug users near a car.
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Prosecutor Oliver Norman told the court Taj had been in a parked up Audi which was approached by two suspected drug users who fled when they spotted the police vehicle. Taj also ran off towards Lister Lane and the male PCSO suffered a broken finger during a struggle with the defendant.
After Taj was arrested he was found to be in possession of £260 in mixed banknotes and a discarded black bag contained dozens of wraps of crack cocaine and heroin.
Mr Norman said the drugs were valued at about £2200.
(Image: Yorkshire Live)
Although Taj was released under investigation back in 2021 he was not brought before the courts for the offences until June last year.
At a further Crown court hearing last month he entered guilty pleas to two charges of possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply and a charge of assault relating to the PCSO. Taj, now 33, was given bail to put his affairs in order, but today he attended back at the crown court for his sentence hearing.
His offending in October 2021 meant he was dealt with as a so-called “third strike” drugs offender and he was therefore facing a minimum jail term of seven years.
But after hearing submissions from his barrister Recorder Simon Jackson KC agreed to give Taj a 20 per cent discount for his guilty pleas reducing the jail term to five years and seven months.
Barrister Jayne Beckett, for Taj, said his involvement with more sophisticated offenders began when he was 18 and he had very foolishly got involved again. She submitted that her client was “not all bad” and referred the judge to testimonials which showed another side to him.
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