The Northern Echo is taking a look through the last 12 months to pick out some of the people who have found themselves locked up at Teesside Crown Court.
JANUARY
Stephen Starling
A VIOLENT rapist who threatened to kill his victim has been given a 20-year sentence.
Stephen Starling raped the woman on two occasions last year as well as physically assaulting her.
The 41-year-old was branded a 'dangerous offender' as he was sentenced for a catalogue of crimes.
Teesside Crown Court heard how Starling grabbed an officer's penis, leaving him in excruciating pain, when they arrested him following one of the violent assaults.
Starling was convicted of both counts of rape following a ten-day trial at the court.
His victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she had been left traumatised by Starling's abuse and thought he was going to kill her.
Starling, of Herbert Street, Darlington, was convicted of two charges of rape, threats to kill, and two charges of assault, but admitted a charge of perverting the course of justice and assault on an emergency worker.
Judge Jonathan Carroll passed a 20-year sentence for Starling's catalogue of offences – 16 years in custody and an additional four years on extended licence after branding a 'dangerous offender'.
Tom Rodwell
A ‘MONSTER’ who raped five women during a three-year reign of terror has been jailed for life for his campaign of sexual abuse.
Tom Rodwell met his victims through social media before going on to systematically rape and abuse them.
The harrowing details of his devastating abuse was laid bare in court when some of his victims bravely spoke of the ordeal they endured at his perverted hands.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the 31-year-old pleaded guilty to a number of rapes over a three period several years ago.
He denied an 11th rape charge and three charges of controlling or coercive behaviour and those charges were left on file.
Judge Paul Watson QC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, sentenced him to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 12 years in custody.
He said: "You serially raped five women in what can only be described as a campaign of rape. You are a callous and unfeeling sexual predator whose only concern is for your own gratification."
Jonathan Roberts
AN ABUSIVE man who violently attacked his partner and defecated on her drive, during a campaign of harassment after she kicked him out, has been jailed.
Jonathon Roberts grabbed the woman around the neck before hitting her to the ground and forcefully pinning her down with his foot, Teesside Crown Court heard.
The 58-year-old flew into a rage and attacked the woman in their Darlington home when he accused his victim of making disparaging remarks about the way he spoke to his son on October 9 last year.
Joseph Hedworth, prosecuting, told the court Roberts had attacked her on several occasions during their 15-year relationship and also verbally tormented her by branding her ‘****ing mad, la-la, and loopy-loop’.
Recorder Aisha Wadoodi sentenced Roberts to a total of 14 months in prison for both offences.
She said: “You smeared faeces on her car and driveway, she texted you and said - ‘I can’t believe you s*** on my are’ and your response was ‘I was caught short’ – that has been your response in the pre-sentence report as opposed to ‘I’m extremely sorry for what I have done’.”
Morgan Guest
A BOOZED-up thug who smashed a glass into the face of a man when a row erupted over whose round it was left his victim blind in one eye.
Morgan Guest reacted angrily when he was asked to pay for a round of drinks and challenged his victim to a fight outside The Dubliners in Stockton in August 2020.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the pair started fighting before Guest grabbed a glass, smashed it and plunged it into the face of his victim.
Judge Paul Watson QC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, told the 22-year-old his offence was so serious that only immediate custody was an appropriate sentence.
Sentencing him to five years, the judge said: "The victim and his friends had gone out for a quiet drink, he bought a round of drinks, which included you, and when he queried whether you were going to get your round in, you for some utterly inexplicable reason seemed to have completely lost it."
Guest, of Coal Lane, Wolviston, near Stockton, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Samantha Hesler
A DEPRAVED social worker and foster carer has been jailed for the sickening sexual assault of a teenage boy she groomed more than two decades ago.
Samantha Hesler lavished gifts on the young boy before sexually abusing her victim in her own home.
The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said Hesler bought him cigarettes, booze and computer games during their three year sexual relationship.
In a devastating victim personal impact statement, the man spoke of the lasting impact the abuse had on him twenty years later.
Giving evidence during the four-day trial, the victim said he had a three-year affair with Hesler after befriending the married social worker in the 90s.
Judge Paul Watson QC sentenced Hesler, of The Dorkins, Great Broughton near Stokesley, to two years and six months and ordered her to sign on the sex offenders' register until further notice.
He said: "Despite the age gap between you, you formed a sexual relationship with him though not for the first time I remind myself that we are not dealing with you for having a full sexual relationship with him."
Aaron Gray
A DRUG dealer who slashed the throat of an undercover police officer attempting to arrest him has been jailed for five years.
Aaron Gray and two other men attacked the officer when he grabbed hold of the defendant after he was spotted making a drug deal.
The officer was held in a choke hold from behind while being threatened that ‘he had messed with the wrong man’ before Gray putting a knife to his throat and dragging it across his neck, leaving a four-inch wound.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the three men then continued to kick and punch the officer after he called for back-up from colleagues on June 19 last year.
He also pleaded guilty to possession of a Class a drug and possession of an offensive weapon from an earlier incident on May 12 when he was caught selling crack cocaine on Peel Street in Middlesbrough.
Gray was carrying a Samurai sword with a 60cm blade at the time of his arrest.
Recorder Martin Rose sentenced him to a total of five years for all charges.
Lewis Monaghan
A VIOLENT thug who punched and kicked a police officer unconscious has been jailed following two horrendous attacks on the emergency services.
Lewis Monaghan left one police officer needing medical attention after he launched the violent attack on May 26 last year, just days after he punched, kicked, and spat at a number of police officers when they tried to help get him to hospital.
The 23-year-old also breached a restraining order preventing him from approaching and harassing his own grandmother, Teesside Crown Court heard.
Miss Wright said the officer is still suffering the after effects of the brutal beating dished out by Monaghan when he attended the incident on Westcroft Road, Grangetown.
Monaghan, of Myrddin Baker Road, Eston, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to five counts of assaulting an emergency worker; one count of possession of cannabis; one breach of a restraining order; and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Judge Jonathan Carroll jailed Monaghan for a total of 46 months and two weeks for the catalogue of offending.
Justin Poyner
A REPEAT burglar who wanted to remain in custody had his wish granted when a judge jailed him for two years.
Time ran out for Justin Poyner after he targeted the same jewellery store twice in little over a week and stole thousands of pounds worth of designer watches.
The 49-year smashed a display unit and grabbed £2,577.70 worth of B watches from Hallmark the Jewellers on November 29 last year before returning in the early hours of December 7 when he forced his way into the shop with the help of an unknown accomplice.
Teesside Crown Court heard how Poyner was spotted by CCTV operators who directed police towards the defendant resulting in his arrest.
Poyner, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to two charges of commercial burglary following the two raids.
Recorder Paul Reid granted Poyner's wish and jailed him for two years.
"He has has an appalling record and he told the probation officer he had left the Midlands to leave behind his life of crime and start afresh in the North East," he said.
FEBRUARY
Drugs gang
A DRUGS gang who went on a rampage of violent retribution where shotguns were blasted at four homes and a man was attacked with a machete have all been jailed.
Gang leader Scott Mizsei was at the heart of the cocaine dealing operation and was involved in three of the firearms attack which took place in one night of violence.
The 34-year-old targeted the houses in Thornaby and Stockton when he blasted a pump action shotgun at windows and doors.
Teesside Crown Court heard how there was two adults and child sleeping upstairs in the property on Victor Way, Thornaby, but the other two addresses, on Tarring Street and Stirling Way, were both empty at the time of the shootings in December 2019.
Judge Timothy Stead branded Mizsei a ‘dangerous offender’ as he sentenced him to a total of 22 years in custody with three years on extended licence after he was found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and three charges of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.
Mizsei, of Lime Trees Close, Port Clarence, Middlesbrough, was found guilty following a trial.
Four of his co-defendants were later involved in another shooting incident when a shotgun was blasted at a house in Hemlington, Middlesbrough, in March 2020.
The attack was in retaliation for an assault on Sidney Bashford’s mother and his sister’s house.
Bashford, Oliver Connelly, Kyle Hamilton and Cory Mosley, were among a gang of people who turned up mobhanded at the address in a car and on a quad bike for the ‘revenge attack’ with a display of force with three people going towards the property.
Bashford, 25, of Raydale, Hemlington, was sentenced to four years for conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear or alarm after pleading guilty.
Connelly, 24, of Eastcroft Road, Middlesbrough, was jailed for four years for the same offence and a further six months for a drugs offence after pleading guilty to both charges.
Hamilton, 24, of Limetrees Close, Middlesbrough, was sentenced to six years after being found guilty of the same weapons charge.
And 19-year-old Mosley, of Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough, was sentenced to a total of six years and six months for the weapons charge and unlawful wounding.
The final defendant was a grandmother who was jailed for three years for her role in a conspiracy to supply cocaine after being found guilty at trial.
Diane Brown, of Longbeck Way, Thornaby, allowed her house to be used as a ‘warehouse’ to store and prepare drug deals in July last year.
Gang Violence
A MAN who witnessed his father being stabbed to death following a street brawl when he was a young boy has been jailed for his role in a crime spree.
Joshua Hannan’s father, Lee, was stabbed six times during a violent confrontation in December 2006 and now 16-years later he has been jailed for four years and four months for a catalogue of offences.
The 20-year-old pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cocaine, two weapons charges, two burglaries and an attempted burglary.
Hannan and two accomplices, Liam McElvaney and Tyler Hall, carried out two burglaries, an attempt burglary and theft of a motor vehicle during a series of raids in the early hours of August 10, last year.
Hannan and 19-year-old Hall broke into the first property on St Patricks Road, Middlesbrough, and stole the keys for a Skoda Octavia before driving off in it.
The pair then picked up 18-year-old McElvaney before heading off to their next burglary and attempted burglary at an address on Cannock Road, Middlesbrough.
McElvaney, of Iris Grove, Darlington, was also sentenced for his role in a violent confrontation in a town centre McDonald’s which resulted in the victim being stabbed three times.
The Judge sentenced McKay, 32, of St Patricks Road, Middlesbrough, to 32 months for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
Lacson, of St Patricks Road, Middlesbrough, was sentenced to a total of eight years, nine months, and two weeks for his offences.
McElvaney was sentenced to a total of 29 months for the burglaries, attempted burglary, and affray.
And Hall, of Redworth Road, Billingham, was jailed for two years for burglary, attempted burglary, and theft.
Sneak Burglar
A BURGLAR has been jailed after she crept into a house and stole a rucksack containing £900 from a bedroom where a young child was.
Gemma Myeah left the young mother terrified when she realised a burglar had been rummaging around her home while she was bringing shopping into the terraced house.
The 35-year-old was described as a drug addict and habitual offender when she was sentenced at Teesside Crown Court.
Judge Jonathan Carroll jailed Myeah for 876 days – more than 28 months – after she pleaded guilty to burglary but refused to name her accomplice.
The judge added: “You entered the bedroom, took the rucksack containing the cash and various other property and you fled.
“When she came back to the bedroom she rapidly identified the bag had gone and she questioned the child and knew she hadn’t got it, so she knew that somebody had been in her house and stolen it.
“It’s hard to imagine the sense of invasion she must have felt, not just that somebody had invaded her home but that that they had been in the same room as her child – she must have been sick with fear.
“She fled the house in case you were still there and that is a fair indication of how frightened she must have been.”
Myeah, of Dorothy Street, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary.
Loan Shark
A LOAN shark threatened and intimidated vulnerable people in a desperate effort to get his hands on a top of the range car through their mobility benefit scheme.
Karl Marron bled one couple dry and left them in ‘Dickensian penury’ after he forced them to hand over all of their benefits when he moved into their North East home against the couple’s wishes.
The burly 33-year-old initially loaned them a small sum of money before he fleeced them out of £4,500 over a five-month period as he ‘crushed their spirits’.
Teesside Crown Court that the woman initially borrowed £20 from Marron - who also calls himself Carlos Rothschild – before he ingratiated himself into their lives and left them devastated by his blackmail.
Glenn Gatland, prosecuting, said that Marron accused the couple of wasting his time when they failed to supply him with a Mercedes coupe and told them they owed him £2,750 because of that.
Another one of Marron’s victims was left feeling suicidal as a result of his threats and intimidation.
Marron’s first trial was abandoned in February last year when one of the blackmail victims received a text message questioning their evidence.
The court heard that the message was sent on his behalf by his partner, Katrina Allnatt, from the Reading area where she was living at the time.
Allnatt, of Cliffland Way, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
Marron, who gave his address as HMP Durham, was found guilty of four charges of blackmail from June-October 2019 and conspiring to pervert the course of justice following a second trial. He also pleaded guilty to possession of a class C drug.
Michael Shilliday, in mitigation for Marron, said his client had a difficult upbringing and was looking at becoming involved in charity work to help young people who find themselves in a similar position as he did as a child.
“You did not have the courage to admit what you were doing, you showed not a shred of remorse for what you did,” he said.
Allnatt was sentenced to 11 months in custody, suspended for 18 months after admitting perverting the course of justice. She was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.
Weapon offence
A WOMAN who helped an armed criminal gang to hide weapons has been jailed for two years.
Kimberley Woodhouse hid a homemade slam-gun in her garden shed after she dismantled the weapon under the instruction of Kyle Hamilton.
The 24-year-old was a member of an organised crime group who caused chaos when they went on a shooting spree targeting rivals in an orgy of violent attacks.
Hamilton was jailed for to six years after being found guilty of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear or alarm.
It was while he was on remand for the attacks in December 2019 that he contacted Woodhouse asking her to hide the slam-gun, which is a homemade shotgun, Teesside Crown Court heard.
Woodhouse, of Rhodes Court, Thornaby, pleaded guilty to a charge of assisting an offender.
Gary Wood, in mitigation, said his client accepted her behaviour had been foolish and had changed her story during the case as she had ‘panicked’ after pleading guilty.
He said: “Someone came to you with a homemade gun, it was a slam-gun, which looks to the untrained eye innocuous but it is deadly, it is in effect a shortened-shotgun.
“It is the sort of weapon that can only have one purpose and that is a criminal purpose."
Predatory rapist
A RAPIST who preyed on a vulnerable young girl after meeting her in a bar has been jailed.
Convicted drug dealer Valentine Livingston persuaded his teenage victim to return to his home with a group of friends for a party.
However, CCTV footage from a pizza takeaway showed how the victim was ‘mortal drunk’ and in no fit state to consent to sex, Teesside Crown Court heard.
The 35-year-old raped the woman in his bed before hiding her underwear under his mattress after he took advantage of her while they were in Spensley's nightclub on Albert Road, Middlesbrough, in July 2017.
The court heard during Livingston’s trial how the victim had awoken in his bed without her underwear and in pain.
“At the time of the offence she was out in Middlesbrough town centre, just as many people do,” he said. “During the course of the night she consumed alcohol, she got drunk, just as many young people do.
“That young girl, incapacitated like she was, should have been looked after, she should have been cared for. Unfortunately, she was to cross your path.”
Livingston, of Avondale Gardens, Dyke House, Hartlepool, formerly of Middlesbrough, denied two counts of rape - claiming the sex was consensual on both occasions.
He was acquitted of raping a second woman who said she smoked skunk at his flat after a night out, before going to sleep in Livingston's bed.
MARCH
Keegan Barnes
A WOMAN found guilty of the manslaughter of her friend has been jailed for more than eight years.
Keegan Barnes was found guilty of killing Toni Butler following a trial. She was found not guilty of murder.
The 28-year-old, was sentenced to eight years and six months in prison at Teesside Crown Court.
Barnes had maintained throughout the trial that she had acted in self-defence.
Miss Butler, 25, died after being stabbed twice in the leg last June 10.
The court had heard she had died of catastrophic blood loss after suffering two stab wounds to her calf – one piercing a main vein.
Both women had been drinking and taking drugs in the lead-up to the fatal incident, the court heard.
The attack happened at Barnes' home in Vulcan Way, Thornaby.
Mark Page
THE fall from grace of an ex-Radio 1 presenter is now complete as he is jailed for 12 years for ‘grotesque’ child sex offences.
Mark Page paid money to sexually exploit vulnerable Filipino children for his own depraved sexual gratification.
The 63-year-old pervert even haggled over the price when he was arranging to have sex with a teenage boy and a 12-year-old girl.
Teesside Crown Court heard how he signed up to an online dating agency, Filipino Cupid, before engaging in sexually explicit conversations with a young girl and offering to pay them to perform sex acts.
Page then travelled to the Philippines with the intention of fulfilling his sexual fantasies of sexual abusing young girls and a teenage boy.
He said: “The offence for which you have been convicted involve the grotesque sexual abuse of young children for your own sexual gratification."
'Bullying' pair
A MAN who was attacked with a knuckle-duster before being forced to hand over £1,000 worth of camera equipment to repay a £140 debt was the victim of ‘extreme bullying’.
The victim was forced into a car after meeting up with Luke Fines in a car park at Teesside Park following a dispute over drug money.
The 23-year-old threatened to ‘stab-up’ the victim before punching him to the face while wearing a knuckle-duster, Teesside Crown Court heard.
Fines, of Gladstone Street, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to robbery.
And his co-accused David Clarke, 21, of Cobden Street, Thornaby, pleaded guilty to the same offence as well as additional charges of possession of ecstasy with intent to supply and possession of cannabis.
Recorder Ian Mullarkey sentenced the pair to three years in custody for the robbery.
Clarke was sentenced to an additional 18 months for the drugs offences, so will serve a total of four years.
Jamie Stainsby
A PAIR of heroin dealers were caught after police spotted one of them acting suspiciously while driving a BMW.
Jamie Stainsby and James Roberts were arrested after the car was abandoned in Darlington and a subsequent search of their homes recovered £11,000 worth of heroin stashed in a wardrobe and more than £1,000 in cash.
The Class A drugs were found in the home of Roberts and Stainsby’s DNA was recovered from the bag the drugs were stored in, Teesside Crown Court heard.
Nadim Bashir, prosecuting, said analysis of two mobile phones seized from Stainsby revealed hundreds of messages relating to drug dealing including ‘adverts’ letting everyone know that he was back selling product.
The court heard there was 800-pages of mobile phone evidence downloaded from Stainsby’s mobile phone which showed he had been involved in dealing heroin for several months and included a number of postings saying he was ‘back on’ to supply.
Roberts, 22, of Meadowsweet Lane, Darlington, pleaded guilty to supplying Class A drugs – heroin.
Judge Howard Crowson sentenced Roberts to two-years in custody, suspended for 18 months to reflect his ‘time served’ in custody and the delay in his sentencing.
Dealing with Stainsby, the judge jailed him for five years and two months.
Paul Thornhill
A MAN who fired a spear-gun at a neighbour following a violent row has been jailed for almost four years.
Paul Thornhill was already on bail after he was arrested for carrying the weapon in the street when he fired the spear at his victim before hitting him on the back of the head with the butt of the gun in a ‘cowardly’ act.
The 49-year-old armed himself with the weapon after getting into an argument with a man in Redcar, Teesside Crown Court heard.
Sentencing him to a total of 46 months, the judge said: “When you got home on that particular morning there was a verbal disagreement but your response to that was extremely volatile and you made a deliberate, conscious decision to go back into your home and arm yourself with the spear-gun.
“You deliberately discharged it at a man. Thankfully, he didn’t receive any injury.”
Thornhill, of Slake Terrace, Hartlepool, was found guilty of possession of a firearm, possession of a blade in a public place, attempt to wound someone with an offensive weapon, and possession of a class B drug.
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