Head of drug-dealing organised crime gang will spend longer in prison

A Blackburn man who headed an organised crime group will spend longer in prison after his case was referred to the Court of Appeal by the then Solicitor General Alex Chalk QC MP.

Umar Hamid, 31, was the head of an organised crime group that was responsible for the supply of Class A and B drugs over a period of approximately 16 months from 2018-2020 in and around Blackburn, Lancashire. The group ran two drug dealing networks, with one concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine whilst the other dealt in the sale of drugs including cocaine, MDMA and ketamine.

On 13 April 2022, Hamid was convicted of conspiracy to supply class A and class B drugs. He was sentenced to 10 years and 10 months’ imprisonment at Preston Crown Court for his role in running the gang.

The Court ruled that Hamid would serve this sentence concurrently with an existing sentence of 17 year’s imprisonment with a 5-year extended licence for unrelated offences, which would mean he would not serve any extra time in prison.

The then Solicitor General disagreed with this approach and believed that Hamid’s drug dealing offences were serious enough to warrant an extended total prison sentence. As a result, the sentence was referred to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.

On 13 July the Court of Appeal found Hamid’s original sentence to be unduly lenient and imposed a new consecutive sentence of 6 years’ imprisonment, which means that Hamid will now have to serve an extra 6 years in prison. Therefore, his total sentence length is now 23 years’ imprisonment with a 5-year extended licence.

Speaking after the hearing, the now Solicitor General Edward Timpson CBE MP said:

Supplying illegal, dangerous drugs on this scale is a serious crime that ruins lives. I welcome the decision of the Court today to impose a sentence that better reflects the gravity of Umar Hamid’s offending.