Hassan Mohammad:Sheffield dealer caught red handed with loaded gun & drugs just days after last sentence ended

A Sheffield drug dealer whose criminality escalated to carrying a firearm and ammunition a matter of weeks after being released from the licence period of his prison sentence is back behind bars after failing to ‘learn his lesson’. 

“The gravity of gun crime cannot be exaggerated. Guns kill, maim, terrorise and intimidate. That’s why criminals like you want them,” Judge Sarah Wright told defendant, Hassan Mohammad.  

She continued: “That is why they use them and organise their manufacture, supply and distribution. Sentencing courts must address the fact that too many lethal weapons are carried, used and distributed. Too many are used with an insidious and corrosive impact on the wellbeing of the local community.”

Sheffield Crown Court heard how Mohammad’s licence from a three year, three month prison sentence for other offences relating to dealing crack cocaine and heroin had expired just a month before the 23-year-old was ‘caught red-handed’ with firearms, ammunition, a knife and Class A drugs, during a police search carried out on Exeter Drive, Broomhall, Sheffield, on January 24, 2024. 

Judge Sarah Wright told Mohammad, of Edward Street, Sheffield city centre: “It’s absolutely clear you didn’t learn your lesson as a result of your previous sentence.”

She continued: “You had on you a metallic black handgun, a converted blank firing pistol. The conversion involved moving obstructions, making it a viable firearm.”

Officers noticed the butt of the gun was ‘protruding’ from Mohammad’s clothing, and found within the magazine of the firearm were three ‘live modified cartridges,’ a hearing held on April 17, 2024 was told. 

“This means the weapon was usable and lethal,” Judge Wright said, adding: “You also had on you cocaine worth £1,500 and heroin to the value of £600, along with a knife. You also had various phones on you and £375.”

Judge Wright told the court that after Mohammad was ‘caught red-handed’ with the firearms and drugs, a search was carried out at his home, during which wraps of heroin, dealer ‘snap bags,’ a business card and further phones were recovered by officers. 

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Mohammad was subsequently charged with, and pleaded guilty to, a string of offences including: possessing a prohibited weapon, namely a converted blank firearm; possessing ammunition for a firearm without a certificate; possession with intent to supply Class A drugs, namely crack cocaine and heroin, with intent to supply; possession of a knife in a public place and acquiring/using/possessing criminal property, namely £375 in cash. 

The court was told how the three year, three month prison sentence Mohammad previously received, which expired in December 2023, also related to an offence of affray, as well as two offences of possession with intent to supply crack cocaine and heroin. 

Referring to Mohammad’s mitigation, Judge Wright said he was still a young man, and it had been suggested on his behalf that he began ‘dealing to fund his own habit’. 

Judge Wright said Mohammad also claims to have been ‘given’ the firearm, but she told him: “You cannot be said to be naive, given your previous conviction for dealing Class A drugs, and you were prepared to carry this weapon…it is clearly an escalation in the seriousness of your offences..”

Mohammad is said to be ‘very remorseful,’ Judge Wright said, adding that she had noted the contents of a reference submitted on his behalf which detailed his voluntary work to help others.

She told him it was a ‘shame’ he had not focused on such positive work for the community upon his release from prison, instead of returning to dealing Class A drugs. 

Judge Wright jailed Mohammad for 11 years, and told the court that confiscation proceedings will take place in September 2024. 

Speaking after Mohammad was jailed, Detective Constable Lisa Yates, from South Yorkshire Police’s Armed Crime Team, said: "This excellent result came from proactive work by our neighbourhood policing officers and comprehensive work carried out by the Armed Crime Team.

"Another relentless criminal has been taken off the streets and placed behind bars, and another firearm has been seized preventing any more harm to have occurred.

"We do not tolerate firearms on our streets, and take this as a warning that if you have a gun, we will find you and you will be forced to face the consequences of your actions."