Sheffield men jailed after getting involved in 'murky world of ruining lives with drug dealing'

Drug dealing defendants, Mohammed Kashef and Mustafa Ali, were caught out at just after 4pm on July 19, 2022 when police officers patrolling in the Abbeydale Road area of Sheffield had their attention drawn to a Fiat Punto vehicle.

Prosecuting barrister, Laura Marshall, told Sheffield Crown Court during a March 31 hearing: “They believed one of the passengers might be smoking cannabis, and so the vehicle was blocked in a car park.”

Ms Marshall said Ali, aged 23, was subsequently identified as the driver of the vehicle, while 20-year-old Kashef was found to be the rear-side passenger. More police officers were called to the scene, and drug searches were subsequently carried out, the court heard.

When Ali was searched he was found to have ‘secreted’ a bag containing crack cocaine and heroin in his underwear, and was also in possession of two mobile phones, Ms Marshall said.

She added: “Kashef was arrested and upon being searched he was found to have approximately £500 in cash. Because he was with a defendant who had secreted drugs in his underwear, he was arrested.

“He said he had the cash because he was going to go shopping,” she said.

Searches were subsequently conducted at properties associated with the defendants. Ms Marshall said ‘various items relating to drugs’ were found at Ali’s property, including weighing scales, grinders and a bags containing a ground substance and a white substance.

“The Crown’s case is that the defendant Ali had in his possession drugs – cocaine and heroin – in order to supply them to others,” Ms Marshall told the court.

During the search of Kashef’s property, Ms Marshall said officers found three telephones believed to be ‘linked to a Speedy drug dealing line,’ an illegal service through which users order drugs and arrange for them to be delivered.

Ms Marshall continued: “The pair of them were storing drugs in order to supply them to others. The monies recovered from Kashef’s property were the proceeds of criminal conduct.”

The drugs recovered from the defendants included amounts of heroin and cocaine estimated to have a street value of £1,070 and £3,020 respectively, the court heard.

In his police interview, Ali claimed he had become involved with dealing after his brother built up a drug debt, and individuals his brother owed money to made ‘threats to cause harm’ if Ali did not agree to work for them, Ms Marshall said.

Kashef said that he too was forced into dealing, as a result of damage he had caused to another person’s vehicle in a collision. Ms Marshall said this account was ‘not necessarily accepted’ by the prosecution, but added that she did not think it would ‘make a difference to sentence’.

Kashef was also searched by police on December 16, 2021 after being stopped by uniformed officers on Abbeydale Road. Ms Marshall said he was found to be in possession of 4.34 grams of crack cocaine, with an estimated street value of £937, along with two mobile phone linked to the ‘Speedy’ drug dealing line.

Ms Marshall said the prosecution was not attempting to suggest that either Ali or Kashef were the individuals responsible for ‘controlling’ the ‘Speedy’ line.

Kashef, of Abbeydale Road, and Ali, of College Close, Pitsmoor, both pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs at an earlier hearing, while Kashef also admitted offences of possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply and possession of criminal property, and Ali pleaded guilty to additional offences of possession of diamorphine and crack cocaine with intent to supply.

Victoria Smith-Swain, defending Kashef, said her client was just 19-years-old at the time of the offending, adding that he was still a ‘young man’. She told the court that he had been the victim of two assaults including a stabbing, and asked Judge Peter Kelson KC to take the fact that up until this offending, he had a clean criminal record, into consideration.

Representing Ali, Katherine Robinson said her client ‘simply followed the instructions he was given’ by individuals further up the drug dealing chain, and was ‘very vulnerable to manipulation’.

Judge Kelson sentenced Kashef to four years’ custody in a Young Offenders’ Institute, and also jailed Ali for two years, six months.

Turning to the representation advanced on Kashef’s behalf, concerning him being the victim of assaults, Judge Kelson said: “I do not find the fact you were the victim of two assaults to be mitigation. If you decide to get involved with this murky world of ruining lives with drug dealing then that is your own look-out. It cannot be mitigation.”