BAHMANZADEH's advocate, Anthony Donne QC, attempted to

mitigate the judge's sentence by highlighting points which

showed his client in a favourable light.

He noted six areas where the club owner had made efforts to

tackle drugs, including the 'undoubted genuine offer' to pay

for two uniformed police officers to be stationed outside the

club 'all night as a warning' to drug dealers and users.

Mr Donne also noted Bahmanzadeh's change of security company

after problems with the previous one, and the 'very high'

number of people arrested at the Dance Academy who were

“shopped” to police.

He said that '52 Dance Academy-engendered arrests of dealers

and suppliers in 15 months – some were major suppliers' showed

positive steps were being made. He also noted the upgrading of

the club's CCTV system before it became a condition of the

licence, the 'consistent instruction' to DJs and bar staff,

admitted by both defence and prosecution witnesses, about the

zero-tolerance attitude towards drugs, and how they should

bring drug-dealers to the attention of security staff.

He ended by noting there was an 'absence of any evidence'

that Bahmanzadeh would go easy on any dealers or suppliers, and

claimed witnesses for both sides openly admitted he was

personally 'strongly anti-drugs', with no previous convictions

for drug offences. He invited Judge Gilbert to view Bahmanzadeh

as 'a successful businessman keen to keep his costs down'.

He also claimed Bahmanzadeh had lost everything he had ever

worked for since the police raid on May 7, 2006.

He said: “He has lost everything that matters to him,

everything that he spent all that time, putting his energy and

emotion into.

“The closure and conviction has lost him everything.

“To lose everything for being too stingy to pay for more

doormen was very sad. It's a very substantial punishment that

he has – through his stinginess – lost everything.”

Costelloe's advocate, Vincenzo Esposito, also attempted to

mitigate his client's sentence, noting he was 'a conscientious,

hard-working' man who never had a day off sick. As a DJ he was

'certainly very talented' and though dedicated to the club he

did not 'employ an evil motive'.

Mr Esposito said: “The last two years have been very

difficult indeed for him and his family.

“He has become engaged to his girlfriend. His parents – who

didn't know about this trial until the very last day – are

devastated”.

He explained how Costelloe – who has a five-year-old

daughter – was an active parent who took his responsibilities

'very seriously indeed'.

He added: “He is having a very difficult time in prison. He

is not a career criminal. His rehabilitation commenced two

years ago, at his arrest. He has continued to ply his trade and

DJd for club C103. There has been no reoffending. He wishes to

put this chapter behind him and move on. He is not

unintelligent, and an ideal candidate for putting something

back into the community.”

He then noted how drug-dealers – some of whom were caught in

the Dance Academy – had been offered suspended sentences and

community work as punishment.

However, both advocates' pleas appeared to make little

headway with Judge Gilbert QC who dissected each of Mr Donne's

claims in sentencing Bahmanzadeh – who has four previous

convictions for theft, obstructing a police officer, possession

of an offensive weapon and assault causing actual bodily harm

in 1989 which saw him serve a three-month jail sentence.

Judge Gilbert QC said he 'expressly' rejected the

submissions, saying: “You both deliberately promoted the

premises to be used for the supply of class A, to better the

club's reputation and profits”.