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.
APRIL
David Smith
A DISGRACED former Tory councillor has been found guilty of a catalogue of child sex abuse charges.
David Smith systematically sexually abused one young boy over a four-year period more than a decade ago and also exposed himself to another young boy in an attempt to get him to perform a sex act on him.
The 33-year-old spent £10,000 buying the silence of the first complainant as he showered him in gifts and took him on lavish shopping trips to Liverpool and Edinburgh.
Smith categorically denied the charges throughout his trial at Teesside Crown Court but jurors found him guilty of all 11 charges.
Due to a number of delays, including the trial being moved due to the Covid pandemic, Smith finally had to face his accusers in court.
The second victim, who also cannot be named for legal reasons, was a teenager when Smith would expose himself and then ask him to touch his genitals.
Smith, of Rainsford Crescent, Middlesbrough, will be sentenced this month.
Luke Porter
A TEENAGER caught trying to arrange to have sex with a young girl was arrested when he turned up to meet her but was confronted by members of an online paedophile hunting team.
Luke Porter believed he was talking to a young girl called ‘Megan’ but was in fact sharing sexually explicit messages with an undercover vigilante.
The 18-year-old was caught when he arrived at Darlington railway station on January 23 this year to meet the ’14-year-old girl’.
Teesside Crown Court heard how Porter knew the age of his intended target as he had been clearly told in a message when he was arranging to meet her for sex.
The court heard how the defendant had only turned 18 a couple of weeks before his arrest.
Porter, of Beaumont Street West, Darlington, pleaded guilty to one charge of attempting to communicate with a child to engage in sexual activity.
Judge Timothy Stead sentenced Porter to nine months in a young offenders’ institute, suspended for two years as there was no actual contact with a child.
Michael Tewelde
A RAPIST who targeted a vulnerable man as he walked through a park has been branded a danger to the public.
Michael Tewelde forced the man to the ground before subjecting him to serious sexual assault and leaving his victim traumatised.
The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had told Teesside Crown Court how he had offered to smoke a cannabis joint with his alleged attacker while he was walking near the Maze Park Nature Reserve, in Middlesbrough.
Jurors heard how the victim broke down when he returned home and police were able to recover a towel from the scene which the man had used to clean himself up after the attack, which happened at around 7.30pm on Thursday, April 29.
But it took the jury less than an hour to convict the 36-year-old of the distressing rape.
The judge passed a ten year sentence, eight years in custody with an extended two-year licence period, after hearing that Tewelde posed a ‘high risk of re-offending’.
He said: “Your victim was making his way home when you were in the area. I’m satisfied you had gone out that evening looking for a sexual encounter."
Lewis Fisher
A CARER who had sex with a vulnerable teenage girl he was supposed to be looking after has been jailed.
Lewis Fisher had been warned about his inappropriate relationship with the teenager while she was living in a North East children’s home but failed to heed the advice.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the 28-year-old went into her bedroom and kissed her before engaging in full sexual intercourse with her.
In a victim impact statement, the teenager said he ‘promised her a life of luxury’ and they would move to Canada.
The young girl added: “I was in a place where I should have been safe and cared for but the opposite happened. When I was brave enough to say what had happened, I was believed, nobody in the home believed me.”
Fisher, of Kesteven Road, Hartlepool, pleaded guilty to sexual activity with a child.
Judge Chris Smith jailed Fisher for five years for the breach of trust when he targeted the vulnerable teenage girl.
Tomasz Dembler's Killers
THE callous killers of a defenceless father-of-one beaten death in his own bed have been jailed.
Rafal Chmielewski and Zbigniew Pawlowski rained down an ‘explosion of violence’ on Tomasz Dembler after simmering tension over a ‘sexual joke’ resulted in a brutal attack on the 39-year-old.
The violent pair then chopped off Mr Dembler’s hands before dumping his body in a shallow grave in woodland on the outskirts of Middlesbrough.
His mutilated body was discovered a month later when two teenage girls spotted his toes sticking out of the ground and alerted the police.
They were jailed for 17 years and six months after they admitted manslaughter seven weeks into their murder trial at Teesside Crown Court.
The Judge, Justice Mary Stacey DBE, said the pair had lied throughout and only changed their plea to guilty when they realised their stories were not convincing anyone.
Three other co-accused - Monika Solerska; Tomasz Reczycki; and Adam Czerwinski, all pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice by helping to dispose of the body.
The judge dealt with all three individually as she passed sentences reflecting their involvement in the attempts to cover up the horrendous crime.
Solerska, 37, of Birchington Avenue, Grangetown, was branded a liar by the judge as she sentenced her to five years and six months.
Czerwinski, 45, of Edward Street, North Ormesby, was jailed for five years for his role in the clean-up.
While Reczycki, 37, of Ashfield Avenue, Grove Hill, Middlesbrough, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison as ‘he was the first to break ranks’ the judge said.
Guisborough violence
FOUR men have been jailed for a violent, mob-handed attack, using a machete and a knife, on a family in their own home.
Ringleader Paul Jeffels, and three Nash brothers, Craig, Simon, and Liam, smashed the windows of the home after ramming a car with a 4x4 before two of them started swiping at the occupants of the house with the weapons.
The family’s terrifying ordeal only came to end when their attackers fled the scene when they heard the sirens of approaching police vehicles, Teesside Crown Court heard.
Recorder Richard Thyne QC described the violent attack as pre-planned and branded Jeffels the ringleader as he sentenced the men for their role in the violence.
“You turned up mob-handed with the clear intent of using and threatening violence to that family and causing damage to their property – and that is exactly what you did."
Sentencing Jeffels, of Mulgrave Court, Guisborough, to 32 months for affray, possession of a bladed article, causing actual bodily harm, and two charged of criminal damage, the judge said: “You were plainly the ringleader in all of this.”
Craig Nash, 28, of Borrowby Court, Guisborough, was sentenced to a total of 27 months for affray, criminal damage, and possession of a bladed article, after being found guilty of all charges following a trial.
Liam Nash, 30, of Hawthorns, Great Ayton, and 29-year-old Simon Nash, of Borrowby Court, Guisborough, were sentenced to two years for their roles in the violent affray and criminal damage, after also being found guilty after trial.
All four were made subject of a ten-year restraining order.
Christopher Currie
A THIEF who used a stolen van during a break-in at a school bike shed has been locked up and the badly re-painted vehicle was spotted outside his home.
Christopher Currie bought the stolen VW Transporter van for £500 before he and an accomplice set off on a theft spree stealing four bikes and a motorbike.
Teesside Crown Court heard how within two days of the van being stolen it had been given an ‘amateurish’ paint job using black gloss paint.
Currie and his accomplice used the stolen van to steal four bikes from a school shed whilst youngsters were on the premises.
Kelly Sherif, in mitigation, said 34-year-old had been in full time employment working as a builder and was no longer associated with his co-accused.
Judge Howard Crowson jailed Currie for a total of two years when he appeared for sentence.
Dealing with the handling of the stolen VW van, the judge said: “You pretty much deprived him of his livelihood by what you did. It had only been stolen two days ago in a house burglary and by the time it was found in your possession it was in a different colour."
MAY
Gangland hit
A MAN who played a key role in the murder of a father-of-two blasted to death with a sawn-off shotgun has been jailed for life.
Hemawand Ali Hussein was shot to death moments after being lured into a house by a suspected drugs gang looking to set up a cannabis farm.
The gangland-style execution was co-ordinated by a number of members of an Albanian 'killing team' in the weeks and days leading up to the murder.
Eugert Merizaj played a pivotal part in persuading the 40-year-old to turn up Chapterhouse Street, Hartlepool, in September 2019, where he was shot at point blank range within moments of setting foot in the house.
Honourable Mr Justice Nicholas Lavender QC, sentenced the defendant to a minimum of 32 years in custody after he was found guilty of murder.
"He was lured into the house in Hartlepool where he was shot in the head with a sawn-off shotgun. You did not pull the trigger and indeed you were not in the house when he was shot but you were involved in planning the attack on Mr Hussein," he said.
"You ended Mr Hussein's life and you brought grief and misery to the lives of others, especially his partner Jennifer Buller and his two sons who were only eight and ten when you took their father away from them."
Cleveland Police are still hunting three men wanted in connection with the brutal murder of Mr Hussein.
The men they would like to speak to are Sajmir Dodoveci, 36, 30-year-old Daniel Kadiu, and Armando Marku, 22. However police believe these individuals may also be known by other names.
Gun drama
A PSYCHOTIC man who blasted a shotgun at a neighbour through her front door and window has been locked up after leaving her fearing for her life.
Neville Coatsworth’s mental health spiralled out of control during Covid lockdown when his family were no longer able to visit him at his Shildon home.
The partially-sighted 56-year-old twice fired his sawn-off shotgun when his next-door neighbour managed to slam it in his face when she spotted the weapon.
Coatsworth then fired the gun through the bay window of the house on Dale Road not caring whether anyone was in the front room or not, Teesside Crown Court heard.
The judge heard how the defendant had turned to drink following the death of his parents and had become increasingly isolated.
Nick Dry, prosecuting, said Coatworth’s ‘obsession’ with the next-door neighbour culminated in the shooting in October last year when he knocked at their door armed with a sawn-off shotgun.
Coatsworth, of Dale Road, Shildon, pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and cause fear of violence and illegal possession of two shotguns following the incident on October 7 last year.
The prosecution offered no evidence on a charge of attempted murder following the compilation of psychiatric reports into his mental state at the time of the shooting.
He said: “You levelled the shotgun at her, with remarkable presence of mind and speed of reaction, she slammed the door shut and moved to one side as you shot. Had she not moved the consequences would have been catastrophic."
Teacher killed
A DRINK-driver showing off his new BMW car to a friend killed a primary school teacher when he ploughed into her car while driving on the wrong side of the road.
Simon Allport had drunk a couple of pints before getting behind the wheel of his car and tearing through Middlesbrough and the surrounding countryside.
The 43-year-old was spotted driving at excessive speed by a number of other road users before he collided head-on with Amie Linton’s Nissan Qashqai on the outskirts of Stokesley.
Soheil Khan, prosecuting, said Allport had been drinking with his friend in the Master Cooper pub in Acklam on July 4, 2020, before taking his BMW M4 coupe out for a spin.
The fatal collision happened on Tanton Road, near Tanton Bridge in Stokesley as the 33-year-old school teacher made her way from work in Stockton to her home in Great Ayton.
The construction manager, of Pennal Grove in Ingleby Barwick, pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving whilst over the drink drive limit.
Judge Paul Watson QC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, sentenced Allport to five years and seven months for killing the young mother while he was one and a half times over the drink drive limit.
“The facts of this case make for chilling reading,” he said. “It maybe the case that it is not possible to say just how fast you were driving at the time of the collision with Amie’s vehicle but it is clear that you had been driving, over a period of time, both at excessive speed and aggressively."
Young thug
A THUG who launched a violent attack on a man to steal £5 from him has been locked up.
Steven Dillistone chased the man through the streets while assaulting him as he demanded the cash he claims the victim owed him.
The 23-year-old was caught on CCTV throwing punches at the victim’s head and tried to get out of the way but Dillistone continued to punch and headbutt him.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the defendant then chased the man through the streets of Darlington before stealing his cash after bumping into him on Clifton Road.
Dillistone, of Church View, Consett, pleaded guilty to robbery following that attack on March 14 this year.
Kelleigh Lodge, in mitigation, said her client suffers with mental health issues and has issues with anger management problems.
Judge Peter Armstrong sentenced Dillistone to 28 months behind bars for the daylight robbery.
He said: “You attacked the victim to get £5 back from him, you were punching him, you were headbutting him, and he was trying to get away but you pursued him continuing the violence against him.
“You ended up getting £5 from him.”
The judge ordered that the cash should be returned to the victim of the robbery.
Jealous 'monster'
A VIOLENT, jealous thug who stabbed his ex-partner 31 times in front of their young child has been jailed for 24 years despite refusing to leave his cell to face justice.
Christopher Blakemore attacked Amy Johnson in a fit of rage after he forced his way into her home following a row over cash.
The six-foot six monster repeatedly plunged a knife into Miss Johnson causing multiple stab wounds to her neck, shoulders, chest, stomach, and thighs, after his anger built after he found a used condom in her bathroom bin on a previous visit to her home.
Teesside Crown Court had heard how she was 'one very lucky lady' after all major organs and arteries were missed during the frenzied attack.
Miss Johnson managed to drag herself to safety and locked herself in her bathroom while she called 999 for help.
During his trial, the defendant maintained that he acted in self-defence and the court heard he still retains that stance.
Blakemore refused to leave his cell to appear in court and was sentenced to 24 years – 21 years in custody and three years on extended licence – in his absence.
Blakemore, of Ammerston Road, Middlesbrough, was found guilty in December of attempted murder following the brutal attack on his ex-partner on October 13, 2019, at Miss Johnson's home on Marske Lane, Bishopsgarth, Stockton.
Judge Jonathan Carroll said: “In all you inflicted 31 stab wounds, to her torso, her chest and back. She suffered a collapsed lung. You, on the other hand, had a single minor injury to your thumb.
“I wholly rule out any suggestion that she was the initial aggressor.”
Racist thug
A RACIST thug who attacked a shopkeeper with a hammer after he was caught shoplifting has been served with some justice of his own.
Daniel Jewson hurled racist abuse at the owner of Hadj’s Mini Market when he was confronted about stealing packets of chewing gum from the Hartlepool store.
The 32-year-old left the scene but soon returned armed with a hammer before launching a violent attack on the shop owner.
Teesside Crown Court heard how Jewson manged to land one blow on his victim before turning his attention to smashing up the shop.
Recorder Nathan Adams jailed the defendant for a total of six months for all three offences telling him that only an immediate custodial sentence was appropriate.
“Your actions on that day were wholly inexcusable,” he said. “What started off as shoplifting for some gum should have ended there. Matters escalated very quickly, the store operator followed you out and you shouted racial abuse at him, again that should have been the end of it."
JUNE
Road-rage killers
TWO dangerous drivers who were caught up in a ‘road rage’ incident which led to the death of a cyclist have been jailed.
Paige Robinson and David Ferry were convicted of causing death by dangerous driving following the death of Graham Pattison, who was thrown into the air when he was hit at speed.
Robinson, 24, of Geranium Close, Billingham, was handed a sentence of seven years and nine months while 47-year-old Ferry, of Granville Terrace in Redcar, was jailed for eight years.
Teenage killer
A TEENAGER who has admitted delivering a number of fatal blows to a father-of-five when he pleaded guilty to manslaughter has been sentenced.
The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was ‘bouncing on his toes’ like a boxer when he delivered a number of combination punches to Thomas Mallaby following a dispute on a garage forecourt.
The 40-year-old died two days after the fatal attack took place at the Esso petrol station in Annfield Plain, near Stanley, at 2.40am on Sunday, September 26.
Sentencing the teenager, Judge Howard Crowson said: "You are now 16 but you were 15 when you killed Thomas Mallaby. His wife and five children, and his other family and friends mourn his loss, and they feel understandable anger at what was an unnecessary death.
"There is no sentence that I can impose that can assuage their grief.”
Pub glassing
A VIOLENT thug who repeatedly smashed a wine glass into a man’s face following a row during a funeral wake in a pub has been told he was lucky not to permanently damage the victim’s vision.
Max Prior reacted violently to a perceived slight while the pair were sitting next to each other in the Travellers Rest in Darlington.
CCTV footage from inside the pub showed the defendant repeatedly smash the wine glass into the victim’s face before other people managed to pull him away from the man and restrain him.
The 36-year-old continued to strike the victim after the glass smashed on the delivery of the first blow.
The 36-year-old, of St Johns Crescent, Darlington, was found unanimously guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm following the brutal assault in October last year.
“There’s some very clear footage of the unhappy events that were to unfold that evening,” he said.
'Hardest man'
A VIOLENT thug bragging about being "the hardest man in Stockton" caused multiple fractures to an off-duty police officer’s face when he attacked him in a bar.
Jason Turnbull launched the unprovoked assault while they were drinking in Traders in Stockton in the run up to last Christmas.
CCTV footage shown at Teesside Crown Court revealed how the 40-year-old confronted his victim before taking up a boxing stance and delivering a number of brutal blows to his head.
Jenny Haigh, prosecuting, said there was no evidence that the victim was targeted due to him being a serving police officer but the assaulted had resulted in long-term medical problems.
In a victim impact statement, the officer said he had been forced to take time off work and was still suffering numbness to his face as a result of his injuries.
He said he ‘suffered flashbacks’ and for a time had struggled to leave the house.
Judge Paul Watson QC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, branded Turnbull ‘belligerent and aggressive’ when he attacked the off-duty officer.
Turnbull was jailed for four years and three months.
Child abuser
A SICK pervert who systematically sexually abused three young children sobbed as he was jailed for more than ten years.
Kenneth Harrison had abused all three victims over a protracted period until the first reported the sexual abuse in March this year.
The 38-year-old admitted sexually assaulting each victim numerous times before his reign of abuse was brought to an end.
Teesside Crown Court heard how his perverted assaults had left his victims traumatised and struggling to come to terms with the sexual abuse they suffered.
Judge Christopher Smith sentenced the Darlington pervert to a total of ten years and eight months for his catalogue of offending.
And a victim impact statement from one of the complaints read: “I have tried to write this so many times but the truth is that I just feel sad, relieved that I spoke out, confused and upset.”
The victim added that the assaults had caused such trauma which has left them unable to sleep and suffering from nightmares.
Harrison was also ordered to sign on the sex offenders’ register for the remainder of his life.
The defendant was banned from driving eight years and four months.
Serial offender
A DEPRAVED rapist who spent 24 years in prison for his sickening crimes grabbed a woman at knife point before attempting to drag her onto wasteland to sexually assault her after his release.
Balaclava-wearing Philip Hann pounced on the woman as she walked along a quiet footpath but she bravely fought him off as she clung onto a wire fence to defend herself.
Hann was released from a life sentence in 2018 after carrying out three horrendous attacks on women in the early 90s.
Hann, 55, fled from the scene while discarding his top layer of clothing and balaclava in an attempt to avoid detection, however, another man spotted him acting suspiciously and alerted police who were searching for the suspect.
Dealing with Hann’s previous offences, the court heard how he was sentenced to life for rape and serious sexual assault on three young women.
Judge Christopher Smith sentenced Hann to a life sentence with a minimum term of seven years and two months in custody.
“You engaged in a considerable degree of planning before you committed this offence,” he said. “You had been following a photographing young women in the area in the weeks beforehand.
“You had made yourself a balaclava to avoid detection, you had armed yourself with a knife and having identified a lone victim, you used that knife to threaten her and cause harm."
Prolific offender
A PROLIFIC criminal is back behind bars after attacking a shop worker with a bottle when she was stopped from stealing booze.
Joanne Igo grabbed the woman by the throat before swinging the bottle at her head as she and her co-accused were being escorted from the Sainsbury’s shop.
A judge warned Igo she would wind up dead if she didn’t address her drug and alcohol issues as he jailed her latest round of offences.
The 42-year-old, who has almost 100 convictions for 291 offences, including 148 for theft or similar, was arrested at the scene and police recovered five bottles of alcohol from a bag.
The court heard how Igo had convictions for punching and spitting at security staff among her lengthy record of 291 offences.
Judge Jonathan Carroll warned Igo she needed to ‘pull herself round’ to keep out of prison.
“You are in many ways a vulnerable woman, you have suffered significant trauma in your life; you are heavily dependent on drugs and alcohol; you have continuing emotional challenges, and you live in this cycle of offending,” he said.
Sick images
A SICK pervert was caught with hundreds of child sex abuse pictures and videos - after his phone was discovered by a work colleague.
When the workman tried to identify who owned the phone he opened it up to find a video of child being sexually abused and called the police.
The phone was later traced to David Wilson and he was arrested on September 9 last year, Teesside Crown Court heard.
Chris Baker, prosecuting, said a search of his two digital devices revealed hundreds of child sex abuse images, some of which the defendant had shared with other perverts, and sexual communication with two young girls.
Wilson, Essexport Road, Stockton, pleaded guilty to possession of 95 images and 197 videos, totalling almost four hours of footage, in category A; possession of 119 images and 118 videos, totalling one hour and 36 minutes of footage, in category B; and possession of 113 images and 43 videos, totalling 32 minutes of footage, in category C.
Judge Paul Watson QC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, jailed Wilson for a total of five years and eight months and ordered that his two mobile phones be destroyed.
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