“Class A drugs wreck lives, those who deal in this evil trade must go to prison for a very long period,” Judge Sarah Wright said, during a Sheffield Crown Court sentencing hearing.
She made the comments as she jailed Sheffield drug kingpin, Callum Zide, for 17 years, six months for the distribution of hundreds of thousands of pounds of Class A drugs to users across South Yorkshire. Zide is just one of the South Yorkshire drug dealers languishing behind bars, after their crimes caught up with them.
All of the criminals included in this list were jailed during Sheffield Crown Court hearings held in 2023 and 2024.
1. 11 South Yorkshire drug dealers currently languishing behind bars after their crimes caught up with them
Top row, left to right: Mark Birch; Callum Zide and Rahim Ahmed. Second row, left to right: Hassan Mohammad and Nathaniel Brown. Third row, left to right: Joshua Newbould; Joanne Medley and Shakeen Christian. Bottom row, left to right: Sophie Massey; Sheldon Archer and Harrison Utley | 3rd party
2. Mark Birch: Jailed for two years, eight months in April 2024
Mark Birch, formerly of Longley Avenue West, Norwood, Sheffield, was jailed for two years, eight months during a Sheffield Crown Court hearing held in April 2024 for a number of drug offences. Birch pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of Class A drugs, namely heroin and cocaine, and one count of possession of cannabis at an earlier hearing. He was sentenced along with his son Bailey Crowe, who admitted to the same set of offences. He received a suspended sentence for his involvement, owing to his formerly clean criminal record. Birch, then aged 48, and Crowe’s drug dealing was exposed after patrolling police officers spotted, and approached, a Fiat vehicle travelling on Masbrough Road, Rotherham, that was believed to be linked to a wanted individual, prosecutor, Stephanie Hollis, told a hearing held on April 10, 2024. “Birch said he had bought the vehicle a week earlier…and the officer noticed he appeared agitated,” Ms Hollis said, adding that the same officer witnessed him ‘push an item between his son’s legs’. The ‘item’ was found to be several wraps of suspected Class A drugs, along with a ‘small quantity’ of cannabis, the court heard. Ms Hollis said the vehicle - which had been fitted with false plates - was subsequently searched and a ‘Kinder egg’ plastic container containing drug wraps was found in the footwell of the vehicle, along with a ‘dealer list’ containing numbers and a packet of pregabalin. Birch entered a basis of plea stating he had an ‘ongoing Class A drug addiction’ which had caused him to fall into debt and he began selling drugs himself to pay off that debt. Birch also stated that he had not ‘coerced’ his son into becoming involved with the criminal enterprise. Crowe, however, admitted to becoming involved over concerns for his father. | SYP
3. Callum Zide: Jailed for 17 years, six months in September 2023
A Sheffield cocaine kingpin responsible for distributing hundreds of thousands of pounds of Class A drugs across South Yorkshire has been jailed for over 17 years. In encrypted messages sent by defendant Callum Zide to supply associates, he boasted about ‘popping bottles in Dubai’ and being ‘top of the food chain’, Sheffield Crown Court heard during a September 2023 sentencing hearing. “You bragged about how much money you were making, and what you intended to do with it,” Judge Wright told Zide, then aged 34. During a hearing held on September 1, 2023, the court heard how Zide’s commercial drugs operation ran between the end of November 2019 and his arrest in July 2021. The scale of Zide’s operation was such that he often bought quantities of cocaine with values of up to £185,000, and would make ‘such purchases every few days,’ Judge Wright said, while summarising the facts of the case. Zide pleaded guilty to multiple charges at an earlier hearing, including: two counts of conspiracy to supply a controlled drug of class A; two counts of conspiracy to transfer criminal property; four counts of conspiracy to supply a controlled drug of class A; one count of possessing a controlled drug of class A with intent; two counts of possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of class A and one count of possessing a knife blade/sharp point article in a public place. Judge Wright sentenced Zide to 17 years, six months in prison | SYP
4. Rahim Ahmed: Jailed for 40 months in September 2023
Rahim Ahmed was an associate of drug kingpin, Callum Zide. During a September 2023 sentencing hearing, Sheffield Crown Court heard how Ahmed, of Clay Pit Way, Greenland, Sheffield, who, when arrested in May 2021, was found to be in possession of £50,000 in cash, and a quantity of cocaine worth up to £2,000. Prosecutor, Katy Rafter, told the court that multiple deposits, totalling £86,000, were paid into Rahim’s back account by several individuals over the course of a two-year period, despite his annual earning potential being determined to be in the region of ‘£16,900 at times’. After being arrested, the court heard how Ahmed, who was aged 30 at the time of the September 2023 hearing, submitted a basis of plea stating that his dealings with Zide were merely ‘social’ and that his drug dealing only extended to those close to him. Following a trial of issue, this account was rejected by Judge Sarah Wright, however, who said she had ‘no hesitation whatsoever in finding’ Ahmed had a ‘substantial leading role’ in the operation. Ahmed pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to charges of conspiracy to supply a controlled drug of class A, possessing a controlled drug of class A with intent and possessing criminal property. Ahmed received a 40-month custodial sentence at the conclusion of the hearing. | SYP