Drug dealer caught after double-yellow clanger in Leeds city centre
Motorist caught police’s attention by parking illegally
A driving drug dealer was caught after he stopped on double-yellow lines in Leeds city centre to ply his illegal trade.
Amir Hussain then drove through a red light to get away but was quickly detained and arrested.
He escaped an immediate jail sentence at Leeds Crown Court this week after it was heard he was now in full-time work and studying for a business-management degree at weekends.
Prosecutor Zanisha Herbert said patrolling officers spotted his Audi A3 parked illegally on Lower Briggate on the evening of January 16.
As they approached, two people got out and began to walk away, suspecting a drug deal had taken place. They were detained but 31-year-old Hussain took off.
Shortly afterwards he was stopped near the John Lewis car park. The vehicle was searched and a small bag of cocaine worth £40 was found, along with cannabis edibles, cash and two iPhones.
His home on Gathorne Terrace, Chapeltown, was searched and more cash and cannabis were found. The amount of money confiscated came to more than £1,784.
The phones were analysed and it became clear Hussain was working as a “runner”, delivering drugs to users.
He gave a no-comment interview. He later admitted one count of dealing in Class A drugs and one of dealing in Class B drugs.
Mitigating, Imran Khan said Hussain had been a drug user, had run up a debt and was put to work to pay it off.
He said the debt was now clear, that Hussain was enrolled on a further-education course and had been working full time since March 2025.
Judge Penelope Belcher gave him a 31-month sentence, suspended for 36 months, with 200 hours of unpaid work to complete and rehabilitation days with probation.
He was also put on a six-month electronic monitoring tag.