Thugs, perverts and drug dealers among those locked up at Teesside Crown Court last month.
The Northern Echo has pulled together a list of some of the most serious offenders facing justice.
See them below and find out why they were jailed.
Drugs warehouse
A man forced into storing drugs after turning to a loan shark for financial help started dealing to make extra cash.
A stash of cocaine, cannabis and ketamine was recovered from Andrew Appleton's property when he attempted to commit suicide, Teesside Crown Court heard.
The 49-year-old initially started off acting as a ‘warehouseman’ for a drug dealer before selling the Class A and B drugs himself.
The court heard how 12kg of cannabis, worth up to £48,000, was recovered from the defendant’s Middlesbrough home.
Officers also seized 8.53 grammes of cocaine, worth up to £850, and 248g of ketamine.
Appleton, of Cedar Terrace, Port Clarence, near Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to three charges of possession with intent to supply cocaine, cannabis and ketamine. He was also found guilty for three charges of supplying the same three types of drugs following a trial.
He said: “I’m prepared to accept that you became involved in drug dealing through the pressure of other people, you had borrowed money from a loan shark and tried to set up your own home."
Snapchat pervert
A convicted sex offender has been jailed after he contacted a number of under-16 girls from a secret digital tablet.
Anthony Metcalfe adopted an alias in conversations with the girls on Snapchat from his home in an outhouse behind a relative’s address in Hartlepool.
The 34-year-old, who was a registered sex offender for life since he was convicted in 2015 of three sexual assaults on children, messaged the youngsters with comments, including ‘nice bum’ and ‘beautiful’.
His ban on contact with children was from a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) which was also imposed in 2015 and he was later jailed for 16 months for breaching it five times, Teesside Crown Court heard.
The court heard how the defendant had 25 convictions for 47 offences, including failing to tell a mother he was visiting at her home that he was a convicted sex offender.
Metcalfe, of Willow Walk, Hartlepool, pleaded guilty to six breaches of SHPO and two breaches of his notification requirements.
Judge Howard Crowson sentenced Metcalfe to two years and eight months for the breaches.
He said: “Given your history, I have a real anxiety about the risk that you pose. These are serious and persistent breaches, contact with six different children, some really young and at risk of very serious harm.”
Armed robber
A masked armed robber left a shop worker fearing for her life when he pointed a pistol in her face and ordered her to ‘open the f****** till’.
Andrew Vaughan was wearing a mask with his hood up when he calmly walked into a One Stop Shop and threatened staff with the weapon.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the 29-year-old had smashed his way into his father’s locked bedroom to steal the air weapon and carry out the robbery of the shop in Eaglescliffe on June 17 this year.
The defendant grabbed £320 in cash and £47.94 in postage stamps before walking from behind the counter and waving the gun at another member of staff to get her out of the way.
Tom Bennett, in mitigation, said his client fully accepted his behaviour and wanted to apologise for the distress he had caused the two women shop workers.
The court heard how the 29-year-old turned to robbery after racking up a drug debt to feed his cocaine habit.
Recorder Mark McKone KC jailed Vaughan for four years and ten months.
Spitting thug
A vile thug who spat at the face of a police officer when he was being arrested for causing a disturbance has been locked up.
Dean Nixon was wrestled to the floor before having a spit-hood fitted after the officer was left with spit running down the side of his face.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the 42-year-old was serving a suspended sentence for assaulting his ex-partner when the disgusting attack took place on June 6.
Nixon, of Laycock Street, Middlesbrough, was found guilty of assaulting an emergency worker when he failed to turn up for an appearance at Teesside Magistrates’ Court.
The court heard how Nixon had 69 previous convictions including for violence and drug offences.
The defendant pleaded guilty to breaching his restraining order and possession of drugs.
Recorder Mark McKone KC activated part of Nixon’s nine-month suspended sentence and locked him up for a total of 11 months for all offences.
He added: “You spat at the officer, some went into his eye and mouth; that is not only very unpleasant but something that a police officer would worry about from a health point of view.”
Drunken robbery
A drunken man who robbed his former partner of £50 when he turned up at her home and attacked her has been locked up.
Gary Bartle grabbed the woman and shook her about before managing to rifle through her pockets and snatch the money which he claimed she owed his mother.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the victim had managed to initially fight off the 37-year-old and escape her home after she kicked him.
Bartle caught up with the woman while she was on the phone to the police and managed to grab the cash and escape on March 29 this year.
Uzma Khan, prosecuting, said the following day the defendant messaged the victim to apologise and over the following days they exchange messages.
However, on April 5 the messages took a ‘sinister turn’ the court heard which resulted in another confrontation where Bartle threatened to burn down the home of the victim’s mother.
The court heard how the defendant has 17 previous convictions for offences including burglary and causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Bartle pleaded guilty to a charge of robbery and making threats to damage property just before he was due to go on trial.
He added: “The robbery is aggravated because you were under the influence of drink at the time.”
Bartle, of Bruntoft Avenue, Hartlepool, was also made subject of a five-year restraining order to stay away from his ex-partner.
Callous thief
A judge has blasted a man who stole almost £20,000 from his partner’s mother in a cruel theft of her life’s savings.
Jake Ferguson used the ruse of hoovering his victim’s bedroom but instead rifled through a locked box stashed under her bed and stole £18,400 and a number of sentimental items.
His theft only came to light when one of the victim’s sons noticed £100 had gone missing from his bedroom and his mother decided to check her money hadn’t been touched.
Kate Barnes, prosecuting, said the money had been saved up to use as a deposit for a house following the death of the victim’s husband.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said the theft had resulted in her not being able to get a mortgage and left her feeling as though her trust had been betrayed.
Ferguson, of Bristow Street, Middlesbrough, was found guilty of two charges of theft following a three-day trial.
Judge Howard Crowson branded Ferguson a ‘dishonest man’ as he locked him up for 18 months.
He said: “I’m afraid I don’t believe anything you say. It seems to me that you are a dishonest man and you are happy to try and lie your way out of this."
Racist attack
A pair of young thugs took part in a racially motivated attack which left a man with blood pouring from a deep knife wound to his arm.
The 16 and 15-year-old boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, carried out the sickening attack on an Asian couple at their own home.
Teesside Crown Court heard how it was the 15-year-old who shouted - ‘black b******’ at a woman before threatening to ‘cut everybody up’.
When the woman’s partner came out of their Thornaby home to confront the pair he was slashed three times across the arm leaving him needing hospital treatment.
Uzma Khan, prosecuting, said the pair turned up at the couple’s home on Thornaby Road, in the middle of the afternoon on October 3.
She said following the slashing the victim ‘felt dizzy and sick’ and his wife thought he was going to die as a result of his injuries.
Judge Howard Crowson said: “You both went to the victims’ home, you both had gloves on and one of you had a large knife in your hand – the other didn’t have a weapon of any kind but you wore gloves.
“The husband came to the door and as he challenged you, you pulled that knife out of its sheath and struck him three times and you cut his arm quite badly before you both ran away.”
The judge sentenced the 15-year-old to two years and four months in a young offenders’ institute and ordered that the 16-year-old would be made subject of a two-year youth referral order and issued him with a 16-week overnight curfew.
Sick abuser
A pervert who systematically preyed on three young boys over a 15-year period has been locked up for almost 20 years.
David Gillender’s horrendous sexual abuse had a devastating impact on his three victims, Teesside Crown Court heard.
The 66-year-old’s reign of terror over the boys lasted from for different periods of time from the mid-80s until the early-00s.
Simon Reevell, prosecuting, said Gillender was found guilty of 14 charges of sexual activity with the three victims while he was living in the Redcar area following a trial earlier this year.
Andrew Petterson, in mitigation, urged the judge to bear in mind the age of the offences and said his client was of previous good character.
He said: “Each of your victims was subjected to a sustained period of sexual abuse at your hands. Each of your victims felt they were robbed of their childhood by you.”
Gillender, of Mansfield Mews, Quedgeley, Gloucestershire, was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.
Sick pervert
A pervert who groomed a vulnerable teenager before driving for two hours to carry out a sickening sex attack on her has been branded a ‘domineering and bullying’ man.
Aaron Scanlon manipulated the girl into believing that he loved her before threatening to send an intimidating message to her mother to tell her he was going to ‘f*** her daughter’ all over.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the 30-year-old sexually assaulted the girl in his BMW after driving from Rochdale to pick the teenager up before she went to school.
The court heard how the defendant had travelled to Darlington on an earlier occasion but the teenager ignored his pleas to meet him.
Scanlon, now of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland, pleaded guilty to assault by penetration and engage in sexual activity without consent following the incident on March 5 last year.
“You travelled to her home twice and both of those journeys were motivated by your sexual desires - whether she consented didn’t matter to you,” he said.
“She was making it clear to you that she didn’t want sexual contact. There was no room for misinterpretation.”
Scanlon will serve a maximum of 11 years and one month in custody before being released on an extended four-year licence.
He was also issued with an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and restraining order.
Rifle threat
A row about unsightly rubbish ended with a man picking up an air rifle and pointing it at a team of council workers.
David Langan reacted angrily to being confronted about the mess at his Darlington room before grabbing the weapon and aiming at the unsuspecting colleagues.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the 53-year-old’s behaviour was witnessed by a neighbour who alerted the council staff to the potential danger.
Paul Newcombe, prosecuting, said the council staff moved to safety and armed police were called to Langan’s home on Richard Court where the weapon was recovered on May 21 last year.
Mr Newcombe said the defendant had intimidated a witness when he confronted them on February 2 this year.
Langan, was convicted of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear or alarm and witness intimidation.
Judge Timothy Stead jailed Langan for a total of two years for both offences.
He said: “They were trying to get you to deal with the rubbish in the area. They were doing nothing wrong."
Violent bully
A violent and domineering bully who threatened to shoot his partner after posting a sexual video of her online has been locked up.
Jack Geldart’s 16-month relationship with the woman was interspersed with custodial sentences when he was recalled on licence for incidents of domestic abuse.
The 25-year-old, who has a long history of violence against women, also turned his anger onto another former partner after he had been remanded in custody.
Teesside Crown Court heard how Geldart flew into a jealous rage when his partner received a Snapchat message when she was visiting him at his bail hostel in Gateshead.
Geldart also published a sexual video of his former partner with her face blurred out in an attempt to embarrass and humiliate his victim, she said.
And on August 17 another of Geldart’s former partners received a call from him while he was on remand and he warned her ‘he would come for her’.
The judge heard how the defendant had previously been sentenced to four years and nine months for carrying out a campaign of terror on the second victim.
Judge Howard Crowson told the defendant he has an ‘appalling record’ for violence and domestic abuse before locking him up for five years and six months.
“You assaulted her for no reason other than jealousy. She ended the relationship and you refused to accept it,” he said.
Child groomer
A sick pervert who turned up to meet up with a 12-year-old girl while carrying a sex toy and lubricant was shocked to find a team of paedophile hunters waiting for him.
Lee Wright-King shared a number of sexually explicit messages with two young girls, including sending a picture of his penis to one of them, without realising he was actually talking online to two adult women.
The 34-year-old made his sick sexually intentions abundantly clear to his intended victims as he attempted to groom them to fulfil his depraved needs.
Emma Atkinson, prosecuting, said Wright-King, using the name Dom Green, contacted the women pretending to be a 12 and 14-year-old girl in August and September this year.
The defendant arranged to meet the girl on September 20 at railway station and was confronted by male members of the paedophile hunting team who had also alerted the police.
Miss Atkinson said when Wright-King was arrested it was discovered that he was carrying a sex toy and lubricant.
Wright-King, of Straker Street, Hartlepool, pleaded guilty to two charges of attempted sexual communication with a child and a further charge of attempt to meet a child following sexual grooming.
Judge Jonathan Carroll locked the sex offender up for 27 months for attempting to groom the decoys.
He said: “I say decoys because they don’t in fact exist, there were adult women who are members of an online group who attempt to flush out people like you who groom young girls to sexually abuse.”
Pervert cleric
A disgraced former senior Anglican clergyman in the North-East has been locked up for the third time in six years after his latest conviction for indecent assault.
The retired Archdeacon of Auckland, George Granville Gibson, received sentences of 12-months and ten months, following convictions after trials at Durham Crown Court and Teesside Crown Court, in 2016 and 2019, respectively.
Now the pensioner has been jailed for 21 months for indecently assaulting a teenager in the late 1970s.
The victim in this case was a man, then in his late teens, who was recruited from a local drama group to perform in a Christmas pantomime at the church.
Judge James Adkin told the 86-year-old that the public needed to be reassured that people in positions of authority will be locked up for sex offences.
He said: “The jury found that on these two occasions you sought out this young man, stood next to him and rubbed against his body.
“You did this when you were near others and you seemed to enjoy that. It was hugely embarrassing for him."
He finally broke his silence and told his wife in 2018, after which he reported it to police.
When arrested Gibson said he could not recall the victim and denied the allegations, claiming he had no sexual interest in men at the time.
Robert Mochrie, representing Gibson, said the defendant was a man in his mid-80s in poor health who was in remission from cancer.
The 86-year-old, of Worsley Park, Darlington, was told he would serve at least half of his sentence in custody.
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