Are these Britain's dumbest criminals? Snooker hall bosses caught dividing cocaine on the tables and selling it by their own CCTV camerasBy Daily Mail Reporter13:30 19 Mar 2014, updated 13:31 19 Mar 2014
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Arshad Khan and Abid Khan used hall as a front for illegal businessBut they forgot to switch off the security cameras they had installedWhen police seized the footage, they saw them dividing up cocainePair, from Accrington, Lancs, were jailed for three and a half yearsTwo drug dealers have been dubbed 'Britain's dumbest criminals' after they were caught selling cocaine thanks to their own CCTV cameras.
Cousins Arshad Khan and Abid Khan used a snooker hall as a front for their illegal business, hiding drugs inside the tables in a bid to shore up their struggling finances.
But they forgot to switch off the security cameras which they had installed to deter troublemakers at the Frames Snooker Club, in Accrington, Lancashire.
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Arshad Khan, 40, and his 27-year-old cousin Abid Khan (pictured) were seen on the security cameras at Frame Snooker Club in Accrington
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Arshad Khan (pictured), 40, and his 27-year-old cousin Abid Khan were seen on the security cameras at Frame Snooker Club in AccringtonWhen police seized the CCTV footage, they saw the Khans dividing up cocaine on the baize of the tables and bagging them up for sale.
It emerged that the two cousins had been hiding their haul of drugs inside chalk compartments and on the underside of the tables.
At Burnley Crown Court Arshad, 40, from Haslingden, and 27-year-old Abid, from Colne, admitted possessing ecstasy and conspiracy to supply cocaine, and were each jailed for three and a half years.
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During mitigation, Abid's lawyer Philip Holden said: 'It's like something off Britain's Dumbest Criminal. It's bizarre that people who are running this sort of enterprise would allow the CCTV still to be running.'
Earlier, the court heard how the pair had leased the club in April last year using funding from their families, but quickly saw the business fail and began using it as cover for drug dealing.
In June, police stopped a car with three associates of the Khans and found a bag of cannabis, and in October they raided the two men's homes and found bags with traces of cocaine.
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The snooker hall in Accrington Arshad Khan and Abid Khan used as a front for their illegal activities
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Burnley Crown Court heard when police seized the CCTV footage, they saw the Khans dividing up cocaine on the baize of the tables and bagging them up for saleAfter finding Abid's fingerprints on one of the bags, officers raided the club and found 70g of cocaine worth £11,500, 236g of bulking agents and a haul of cash.
Sniffer dogs went into the premises and located a carrier bag containing 55.3 grams of cocaine, scales, a dish and a spoon in a snooker table. A box containing £1,805 cash was behind the counter.
An empty vending machine in the reception area was also searched and in it were 28 bags of cocaine, weighing 10.6g, seven snap bags weighing 2.53g at 71 per cent purity, a further knotted bag with 3.37g and also 72 ecstasy tablets.
CCTV footage from the club was seized and showed both Khans holding plastic bags, weighing up and dividing the drugs, going from the snooker tables to the counter and exchanges taking place with unknown accomplices within the property.
Abid was arrested at his home and police found a safe with £3,400 in cash and £270 in his jeans, along with a bag of cocaine. Mr Holden said his client had planned to be a driving instructor but went into a drug dealing instead when he developed a cocaine habit.
He said: 'He literally got his hands dirty, bagging up drugs at the snooker hall. He is a promising, intelligent, articulate young man, who has fallen from grace.
'He started to take drugs, ended up on a downward spiral, his partner left him and he became depressed... He tried to become a driving instructor before the effects of drugs took hold.'
Tim Storrie, for Arshad Khan, said his client committed the offence to earn money to shore up his failing business.
The barrister added: 'It was a foolish idea. He had involved himself in taking cocaine and he was using between £50 and £100 worth a day.'
'These events have been a terrific shock. The defendant knows that when he is released, he has a lot of bridges to build.'
Sentencing, the judge Nigel Grundy said: 'I accept the snooker club was first started as a legitimate business enterprise.
'But it soon became clear to both of you that was failing and you chose to supplement your income significantly by engaging in what can properly be described as a drug street dealing operation.'
'I accept that to some extent the operation was naive in that you kept the CCTV on when you were performing those activities, but that may simply be you were so arrogant you never thought you were going to be caught.' |
