Here are some of the people who faced justice at Teesside Crown Court last month.
The Northern Echo takes a look at the perverts, dangerous drivers and violent thugs who have been locked up in March.
CHOP OFF
A Darlington man’s disturbing violent and sexual behaviour has resulted in him being locked up.
Shaun O’Connor, known as ‘Chop-Off’, sexually assaulted two women, exposed himself to another, assaulted an innocent man and carried out a sickening sex act in a police station cell after his arrest.
The 40-year-old, who represented himself in court, regularly interrupted proceedings at Teesside Crown Court with outbursts of shouting and erratic behaviour whilst appearing via video-link from Durham Prison.
Tabitha Buck, prosecuting, said the defendant grabbed a woman in the post office on Coleridge Gardens, Darlington, before gyrating in a sexual manner against her and making lewd remarks.
O’Connor also walked into the Dalesman Hotel despite being barred by staff, walked upstairs and was confronted by a woman.
He also assaulted a man outside the Greyhound pub on Parkgate when he punched him into the road where he collided with a stationary car.
O’Connor, of Pateley Moor Crescent, Darlington, pleaded guilty to sexual assault, exposure, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Judge Howard Crowson sentenced O’Connor for a total of two years for all the offences.
SHAMEFUL ATTACKER
A promising young footballer’s fledgling career was derailed by his addiction to cocaine which culminated with him robbing his own grandmother.
Joseph Dykins’ life spiralled out of control after he started using the Class A drug and was kicked out of a football academy in Darlington.
The 23-year-old’s troubling behaviour came to a head when he pushed his grandmother to ground after spitting in her face as he demanded she hand over cash to fund his habit before stamping on her mobile phone.
The court heard how the defendant repeatedly called his grandmother begging for cash before turning up at her home and demanding she give him the money.
Dykins, of Peel Street, Thornaby, pleaded guilty to robbery, harassment and criminal damage when he attacked his grandmother on January 17.
Michele Turner, mitigating, said her client’s family were helping him to ‘fight the beast’ of addiction and wanted him to get the help he needed.
“You have a history of targeting your grandmother and causing her distress – she says she has been bullied by you for six years,” he said.
RIVER ESCAPE
A motorist who reached speeds of 130mph in a vain attempt to evade the police has been locked up after his shocking driving was shown to a judge.
Ryan Hall was told that he was ‘fortunate’ not to have killed someone as he continued to drive at 100mph despite having a blow-out of one of the tyres on his BMW as he raced along the A167.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the 27-year-old managed to slip past a police Stinger in the village of Great Smeaton, between Northallerton and Darlington, by mounting the kerb and forcing his way through stationary traffic.
For more than four minutes Hall raced towards Darlington with up to four police vehicles in pursuit before coming off the A167 and losing control of the car in Croft-on-Tees.
The judge heard how the BMW veered off the A167 at the Croft Hotel before racing past the church along Monkend Terrace and coming to a shuddering halt in a ditch before he leapt from the car and tried to flee the scene by jumping into the River Tees.
Hall, of Fairfax Road, Middleton St George, near Darlington, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and using a fraudulent document.
Peter Sabiston, mitigating, said the defendant accepted that his driving warranted a custodial sentence.
A judge sentenced Hall to nine months in prison for both offences.
He said: “This was an extremely serious offence of dangerous driving, a car in the wrong hands is akin to a potentially lethal weapon."
Hall was also banned from driving for two years following his dangerous driving conviction.
ABDUCTION ATTEMPT
A sexual deviant who was arrested carrying a BB gun and handcuffs when he turned up at a railway station to meet a ‘14-year-old’ girl was prepared for an abduction attempt, a judge said.
Hendrick Groenewoud had been unwittingly chatting online with a decoy when he made the arrangements to meet up for sex in January last year, Teesside Crown Court heard.
When he arrived at Middlesbrough railway station, he was confronted by members of an online vigilante paedophile hunting team before he was arrested by police on January 13, 2022.
Recorder Thomas Moran said: “You had on you a BB gun and some handcuffs and were interviewed by police and said you had gone to meet the girl knowing she was 14."
Sentencing Groenewoud to 20-months in prison, he added: “I am in no doubt you intended, if necessary, the abduction or detention of the girl – that’s the only sensible interpretation of why you had a handgun and handcuffs with you.”
Jenny Haigh, prosecuting, said Groenewoud had engaged in conversations with two ‘teenage girls’ in December 21. The first he sent an explicit picture of himself after sending sexual messages to her and the second he arranged to meet up with for sex.
Nicci Horton, mitigating, said: “It has taken him sometime to accept how serious these offences are – he now accepts what he has done.”
SAWN-OFF SHOTGUN
A convicted murderer has been found guilty of handling a sawn-off shotgun after his fingerprints and DNA were found on the trigger of the weapon.
Brandon Ali was jailed for 21-years last August when a drug feud ended in deadly violence and Carl Eland was deliberately rammed from his pushbike by a Vauxhall Insignia which the defendant was travelling in.
In March, he has been found guilty of possession of a prohibited firearm found buried in a children’s play area in Middlesbrough, less than two years before the callous murder.
His co-accused George Lammie was also found guilty of the same charge after his DNA was recovered from the black bin bag the weapon was concealed in.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the shotgun was found buried in woodland at the rear of the playing fields off Henry Street, North Ormesby, Middlesbrough, in October 2019.
During his evidence, Ali said he had been involved in legitimate clay pigeon shooting since he was 12 and could have touched the weapon during that period.
Lammie, of Villette Path, Hendon, Sunderland, had told jurors that he had never knowingly touched the shotgun but accepted his DNA could have been transferred to the bag after someone tried to sell him a weapon.
Recorder Andrew Sutcliffe KC sentenced Ali to three years and Lammie to five years in prison.
DRUG HUNT
A drink-fuelled thug who hit one man on the head with a hammer before bursting into another man’s flat while he was on the hunt for drugs has been locked up.
Rhys Hunter was knocking on doors in Darlington looking for a man called ‘Shufty’ so he could buy some ‘sniff’ when his erratic behaviour descended into violence.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the 26-year-old left his first victim with a gash to the head after attacking him outside his home on the Eastbourne estate in April last year.
Emma Atkinson, prosecuting, said the defendant smashed a window of the victim’s home before throwing the hammer at a neighbour’s window and confronting the victim’s 21-year-old son who had come out to help his father.
The judge heard how Hunter then turned up at a nearby address on Stocksmoor Close where he confronted a couple in flat and demanded to be able to buy ‘sniff’ – cocaine.
Hunter, of Esk Road, Darlington, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, possession of an offensive weapon in a private place, threatening behaviour, and criminal damage following the events of April 18 last year.
Recorder Robert Ward sentenced Hunter to a total of 40 months for all offences while praising him for his efforts to address his alcohol problem.
He said: “It is made more serious that the offences were committed when you were drunk and had no recollection of the night.”
KNIFE THREAT
A woman who launched a tirade of vile abuse and threats to kill a former friend has been locked up for a terrifying campaign of abuse.
Mary Dixon told the woman that she was ‘going to slit her throat and watch her bleed out’ in a barrage of abuse Facebook posts.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the 29-year-old threatened the stamp on her woman’s head and warned her ‘you had better watch out, Mary is about’ during a disturbing case of harassment.
Emma Atkinson, prosecuting, said the defendant had a long history of threatening behaviour with 23 previous convictions for 47 offences going back to 2015, including threats to blow up the victim’s home.
Dixon who has previous convictions for breaching restraining orders and harassment, broke an order banning her from contacting her latest victim and went as far as sending the victim a picture of her own house to warn her she knew where she lived.
The judge heard how the threats went on for several years after the friend blocked her on Facebook after they fell out.
Miss Atkinson said the vile abuse left the victim fearing for her safety and in a victim impact statement, she said ‘she just wants to be left alone’.
She added: "The defendant told her - “I’m going to f***ing kill you. I’m going to come to your house tonight and bomb you.”
Dixon, formerly from Stockton but now of Souter View, Whitburn, Sunderland, pleaded guilty to making threats to kill and harassment on November 21, 2021.
John Nixon, mitigating said some of Dixon’s previous victims had not taken the threats seriously but accepted that his client had made ‘idle’ threats to kill but no evidence she ever acted on those threats.
Dixon was jailed for three years.
SICK PERVERT
A pervert who took photographs and videos of a young girl getting undressed and using a bathroom has been locked up after admitting voyeurism.
Corey Brown was caught with hundreds of images after police searched his mobile phone and camera pen hidden in a bathroom, Teesside Crown Court heard.
The 25-year-old’s sickening behaviour was eventually discovered when the girl revealed to a teacher what had been happening to her over a protracted period of time.
Jenny Haigh, prosecuting, said the offending had had a devastating impact on the young victims and she was still struggling to come to terms what had happened to her.
In a victim impact statement, the child’s mother said her daughter had been left traumatised by the defendant’s sick behaviour.
Brown, of Midfield View, Stockton, pleaded guilty to three charges of voyeurism, one charge of making indecent images of a child in Category B, and a further charge of making 725 indecent images of a child in Category C.
Andrew Stranex, mitigating, said his client had now faced up to what he had done in his pre-sentence report.
“The victim said it has ruined two-years of her life, hopefully, it won’t ruin the rest of her life but it is clearly going to affect her going forward and is now having counselling.
“She has written down her feelings about what happened and that is an extremely troubling document – it records how she feels as a direct result of what you did to her,” he said.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel