Dealer hurled drugs from Leeds bedsit window as police burst in during raid

Officers burst into the flat on Redwood Way in Yeadon and found Christopher Doubtfire in the living room surrounded by drugs and paraphernalia. But his accomplice Labib Raja rushed to the bathroom and desperately tried to get rid of evidence from the window, Leeds Crown Court heard.

Both were arrested under suspicion of dealing following the raid on March 11, 2022. Officers found £600 worth of cannabis outside, and also found £100 worth of heroin and £80 worth of crack cocaine. A thorough search of the flat unearthed up to £280 of heroin separated into individual deals, along with deals of cannabis. Cash totalling £485 was found on Raja.

Get the latest headlines, straight to your inbox, with YEP’s free emails

During their police interview, 38-year-old Doubtfire denied any involvement and then refused to comment. Raja, 36, gave a prepared statement. They both later admitted two counts of dealing in class A drugs, and one of dealing in class B drugs, prosecutor Carmel Pearson told the court.

Mitigating for Doubtfire, Simon Hustler said the defendant has been "in the grip" of drug addiction and alcoholism over the past two years. However, he said his arrest had been a "wake-up call", that Doubtfire, who still lives at the flat, had stayed out of trouble since and was now working with the drug-counselling service, Forward Leeds.

Raja, of Woodlark Close, Bradford, was represented by Felicity Hemlin who said: "He got himself into something that was far more serious than he realised." She said there had been no further offending and there was a hope he could be rehabilitated.

Judge Christopher Batty jailed Doubtfire for 27 months, and Raja for 30 months because he had entered guilty pleas later than his co-accused. He told them: "For anyone involved in the class A drugs scene, it has to be immediate custody. You were running this operation from the flat and both receiving some financial reward."