Dealer caught in a taxi in Leeds with 40cm-long machete down his trousers

Officers stopped the cab on Conway Street, Harehills, on September 17 last year and asked Jaheim Whitelay to get out. He then tried to flee but tripped and was apprehended.

They found 18 wraps of heroin with a street value of £190 and a small amount of cannabis on him. They also found the weapon down the back of his trouser leg, and £200 in cash.

Prosecutor Ashleigh Metcalfe told Leeds Crown Court that the 20-year-old’s flat on Mexborough Street, Chapeltown, was then searched where they found another five wraps of heroin.

He has a previous conviction for carrying a bladed weapon. He admitted two counts of dealing Class A drugs, possession of an offensive weapon, possession of cannabis and possession of criminal property. He also admitted affray for his part in a mass brawl on Hirst’s Yard in Leeds City Centre dating back to November 21, 2021.

He was seen kicking and stamping on people during the melee with the police describing him as being “incredibly aggressive and trying to do as much damage as possible”.

Whitelay told police it stemmed from an incident inside a club in which he says somebody tried to steal his chain. He admitted he was drunk at the time.

Mitigating, Fuad Arshad said that Whitelay was still a young man but said his time held on remand at HMP Doncaster had been a “learning curve”.

Judge Robin Mairs gave him 45 months in a young offenders institute.