A friend of teenage murderer Jamal Buckle has been given a community order for his involvement in cannabis dealing.

Last month Shervin Soltani, 23, was cleared by a jury of assisting an offender after he drove 17-year-old Buckle away from the scene of a fatal stabbing in Golcar last August.

The jury formally returned a not guilty verdict following a direction from the murder trial judge, but Soltani was kept in custody after he pleaded guilty to a separate charge of possessing cannabis with intent to supply.

Buckle, now 18, of Elmfield Avenue, Golcar, was found guilty by the jury of murdering 22-year-old Sean Annandale.

Jamal Buckle - guilty of murdering Sean Annandale in Golcar

Soltani, of Hawthorne Way, Shelley, was brought back to Bradford Crown Court to be sentenced for the drugs offence and Recorder Ian Harris was told that police discovered a stash of cannabis at Buckle’s flat during the murder inquiry. The court heard that Soltani’s fingerprints were found on some of the packaging and in his car 24 individual wraps of cannabis were found under the driver’s seat.

Prosecutor Louise Pryke said a search of the car revealed £600 in cash and cannabis concealed in a “modified” Pringles tub.

Buckle himself pleaded not guilty to the same drugs charge and the prosecution asked for that offence to “lie on file” following his murder conviction.

READ MORE:

READ MORE:

Recorder Harris heard that Soltani had been selling cannabis to fund his own drug misuse and he had already been in custody for eight months. He said he hoped that Soltani had “matured” over the last eight months.

Soltani will be subject to the community order for the next year and must do 150 hours unpaid work for the community during that time.