A VIOLENT killer turned drug dealer has been caged for eight years.

And Keith Liburd (pictured)  went back behind bars after a court was told how police discovered £40,000 in drug money stashed at a Huddersfield bank.

Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday how 43-year-old Liburd was helped by his partner and his sister to hide just over £40,000 in a bank safety deposit box.

The cash was seized by police officers in September 2001 after a surveillance operation led to Liburd's arrest in Bradford, where he had been living.

Liburd had previously been dubbed the `Christmas Day killer' after he was found guilty of the manslaughter of his pregnant teenage girlfriend in Huddersfield on Christmas Day 1982.

Liburd, then 21 and living in Sheepridge, had denied murdering 17-year-old Carol Smith, who was four months' pregnant when she was beaten to death.

Sentencing Liburd at Leeds Crown Court in September 1983 to six years for causing Miss Smith's death, Judge Beaumont told him: "You have taken a young life in very brutal circumstances. You are a man with a very bad record for violence."

Speaking yesterday after Liburd was taken from the court to start his sentence, Det Sgt Richard Parr said they were pleased with the result.

He added: "The arrest of Keith Liburd for these offences occurred within a matter of months of his release from prison after serving a six-year sentence for similar offences. This fact coupled with the evidence of this case shows that he is a very active drug dealer."

Mr Parr paid tribute to the hard-work of the officers involved in the investigation.

He added: "We are also extremely pleased with the confiscation order made by the judge - in excess of £60,000 - which has been taken out of the pocket of a major drug supplier and will assist in the fight against street crime."

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