'Laughing gas' dealer told Leeds police he was heading to a party

With lockdown in force in October 2020, officers noticed four people in a Ford Fiesta being driven by Muhammed Kiani, so flagged them down on Fountain Street. Smelling cannabis from the car, they searched the occupants and found 12 bags of skunk cannabis in the vehicle and on Kiani worth £420 along with 504 cannisters of nitrous oxide in his boot worth £312.

He also had more than £400 in cash on him. When he asked to use the toilet in the police station, he then tried to flush £440 worth of cocaine that he had stashed on himself. He gave a no-comment interview, but before then told police the drugs were not for sale and he was heading to a party.

Analysis of his phone found evidence of messages he sent out advertising drugs for sale, prosecutor Camile Morland told Leeds Crown Court.

The 23-year-old, of Taylor Street, Batley, later admitted dealing in cannabis, cocaine and nitrous oxide. The gas cannisters – which are commonly used in the catering industry as a foaming agent – can give users a 30-second euphoric high when inhaled. Known by users as “nos”, supplying the gas was made illegal under the Psychoactive Substance Act 2016 due to concerns over health implications.

Mitigating, Nicholas Leadbeater told the court that Kiani had got involved in taking cocaine and and was drawn in to the world of dealing. He said: “This was a decision which he now deeply regrets, not just because he knows a custodial sentence is inevitable. This was ultimately out of character and it’s a mistake that he will pay for.”

Judge Tom Bayliss KC jailed him for 35 months and said: “You told police the drugs were not for sale and you going to party, which you weren’t at all. I do not accept it was simply to pay off a debt with the amount of drugs and money in the car and the messages on the phone. You were, in my judgement, expecting a significant financial advantage.”