Burglars, dangerous drivers, vehicle thieves, plus a rapist, a child sex groomer, and a domestic violence perpetrator were among the defendants jailed at Durham Crown Court in September.

Three-strike burglar Andrew Tarren received an 876-day prison sentence (almost two years and five months) after admitting a recent house break-in, in Horden.

The 43-year-old defendant, of Warren Street, Horden, was sentenced by Recorder Tahir Khan, after he admitted his latest burglary charge at a plea hearing at the court, on Thursday (Septermber 28).

Tarren was said to have taken wiring and a circular saw in the break-in at an address in Thirteenth Street, on Wednesday August 30.

The Northern Echo: Jailed at Durham Crown Court in September ... top, from left: Andrew Tarren, Karl Robinson, Ben Coe

A current community order he was serving was revoked in the light of the sentence, which is the standard three-year imprisonment, for third-strike burglars, less 20-per cent in recognition of his early guilty plea.

Read more: County Durham criminal jailed after he's foiled by his own cigarette

In another burglary case, 48-year-old Karl Robinson, of Poplar Street, Stanley, received a 20-month (one-year and eight-months) prison sentence.

He admitted entering a house in Dorset Crescent, Moorside, Consett, as a trespasser, on April 23 this year.

Robinson was also made subject of a restraining order by Judge James Adkin.

It forbids him from attempting to contact or approach the resident of the address, for seven years.

Banned motorist Ben Coe, who had an unstrapped three-year-old passenger in the Seat Altea he was driving in a dangerous high-speed police chase in Shiney Row, late on Wednesday August 16, received a total 28-month prison sentence.

Read more: Drink driver arrested after 80-mph chase in Shiney Row

The 24-year-old defendant, of no fixed abode, who was over the drink-drive limit, admitted dangerous driving, driving with excess alcohol, without insurance and while disqualified.

He received 12 months for the driving offences and 16-months of a previous suspended sentence for robbery was activated by Judge Jo Kidd, who made the sentences consecutive.

Two men who were involved in the theft of a Ford Transit van from a car park outside business premises on Dragonville Industrial Estate, Durham, and were then the subject of a long police chase on and off the A1 and A1(M) in South Yorkshire in the vehicle, were both jailed at the court this week.

Read more: Pair used dummy key to steal Transit van from Durham business car park

Anthony Craggs, 45, of Pontop Square, Sunderland, admitted theft, going equipped for theft and dangerous driving, and received a total 28-month prison sentence.

He was also banned from driving for 12-months upon his release on licence at the mid-point of the sentence.

Co-accused John Lamb, 43, formerly of the North East, but now of Matlock, in Derbyshire, received a 12-month sentence after admitting theft and going equipped.

But it will only begin upon conclusion of a 52-month sentence he is now serving for drugs offences, imposed in July.

Simon Dawbney, 45, of Malcolm Avenue, Quarrington Hill, near Durham, received a 15-month prison sentence and was made subject of a five-year restraining order, relating to his father, Albert, at the court on Friday September 22.

He admitted a charge of intentional strangulation, an offence which took place at the family home in Quarrington Hill, on April 2, this year, when Dawbney was described as, “looking to pick an argument”, after drinking.

His father left the house and drove half-a-mile for safety once Dawbney released his grip.

Jorden Gregerson, 25, of Langdale Close, Consett, was jailed for four years and 11 months after he admitted the rape of a woman sleeping on a sofa following a house party in the town, in the early hours of December 20, 20221.

The defendant had denied the charge until the day of his trial, on July 24, when he changed his plea to guilty.

Gregerson was made subject of a 20-year restraining order, relating to his victim, and will have to register as a sex offender for life.

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Luis Gomes, from Skelmersdale, in Lancashire, received a six-year prison sentence after admitting 12 charges arising from the online grooming of a 13-year-old girl, who he then met at a Durham hotel for a night of sex.

The court heard that the girl had told her mother she was staying at a friend's house for the night.

Gomes, 24, was made subject of a restraining order and Sexual Harm Prevention Order, both for 20 years, while he must register as a sex offender indefinitely.