A DEALER jailed for possession of a pistol, amm-unition and £59,000 worth of cocaine has had his justly severe sentence backed by top judges.

Wasim Raza, who was sucked into the world of drugs due to mounting cash worries, received a 13-year sentence at Preston Crown Court last November after he was convicted of possessing cocaine with intent to supply, and having illegal weaponry and ammunition.

The 48-year-old, whose address was given in court as Somerset Grove, Accrington, was living in Blackburn when police raided his home in May 2007, discovering over a kilo of cocaine, plus a pistol and ammunition in a van linked to Raza parked in Bold Street.

Detectives said it was among the largest single drugs haul ever seized in the town.

Judge David Radford, sitting at London's Appeal Court with Lord Justice Thomas and Mr Justice Penry-Davey, during an appeal against the length of the sentence said the pistol was a starting gun which had been partially adapted to fire live rounds.

The ammunition discovered had also been modified and the cocaine haul was worth around £59,000 on the streets.

Raza claimed the sentencing judge was wrong to conclude that he was a fully-fledged drug dealer, but Judge Radford said he was justifiably sentenced “on the basis that he was a commercial drug dealer”.

The gun and ammunition seized were also a worrying feature of the case, the judge observed, since they were a highly sinister attribute of the narcotics world in which guns were used to “protect” dealers and their wares.

“The appeal is dismissed,” the judge concluded.