Northampton drug dealer released after losing both feet and being in Covid coma while in prison for nearly two years

A Birmingham man caught dealing drugs in Northampton will be released from prison after suffering a 'shocking' 20 months in custody since his arrest.

Ahmed Sheikh drove cocaine and heroin from the city and sold them to users in the town, including an undercover police officer, multiple times in 2019 to fuel his own addiction.

The 52-year-old, of Rashven Road, Balsall Green, has had both feet amputated and will eventually lose all of his fingers and also spent four weeks in a coma with coronavirus.

He was given two concurrent two-year jail sentences at Northampton Crown Court on Thursday (July 8) but is eligible for release as he had already spent more than half of that on remand.

Suzanne Francis, defending, said: "Mr Shiekh's is quite a shocking story."

Shiekh had ran up a £400 drug debt and received threats towards him and his girlfriend so he started working for the county lines gangs in Birmingham, the court heard.

On June 4, 2019, the defendant hired a Vauxhall Astra under an alias, as he was disqualified from driving, using money given to him and drove around £16,000 worth of drugs to Northampton.

There Shiekh sold drugs to users, including an undercover police officer - he was seen selling drugs again the next day and again to the undercover officer two days later.

He received around £50 worth of cocaine for the work, which he did for five-to-six weeks - he had been addicted since turning to drugs to cope with his mother's death in 2015.

On November 5, that year, the defendant was arrested, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs and was remanded in custody.

On Boxing Day, 2019, Shiekh was hit by another inmate with a trolley, causing a wound on his leg - 'not much was done about it and it was not dressed properly', Ms Francis said.

After eight months, it became 'extremely infected' and he was taken to hospital, where both of his feet were amputated and he caught Covid-19.

His hands have gone black due to a lack of circulation, which will mean the loss of all of his fingers eventually.

Ms Francis said Shiekh has been completely drug-free since the Boxing Day incident and he will rely on a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Her Honour Judge Rebecca Crane, who described his health issues as 'tragic', also disqualified the defendant from driving for 48 months but admitted he is unlikely to drive again.