These are some of the murderers and killers who faced justice at Teesside Crown Court throughout 2023.
The Northern Echo takes a look at some of the cases which destroyed people's lives.
DEBT ROW
A thug admitted killing a man when he attacked him in a friend’s flat following a row over a £20 debt.
Raymond Whincup had denied murdering Mark Robinson but midway through his trial he pleaded guilty to his manslaughter.
The 40-year-old suffered significant head injuries as a result of the attack and died more than a year later without ever fully recovering, Teesside Crown Court heard.
Whincup, of Station Road, Redcar, entered his plea to manslaughter before his defence case started.
The court had heard how Mr Robinson had emergency surgery after suffering a bleed on the brain and had injuries consistent with at least one blow to the head and from a rapid fall to the ground.
Toby Hedworth KC, prosecuting, had said the attack happened in the early hours of July 28, 2020, in Jonathan Gregory’s flat on Station Road, Redcar.
The jury heard how the witness called the ambulance two hours after finding his friend ‘murmuring’ on the floor in his flat.
A medical expert told jurors how the 40-year-old had suffered two fractures to his jaw, two fractures to bones in his spinal column and three broken ribs.
The judge said everyone’s blurred memories of the night meant it was difficult to piece together what actually happened when Whincup went downstairs to confront Mr Robinson after a row about a £20 debt.
He said: “You wanted to give him a beating, to do him in. I am sure that you roused him and I am also sure that he stood up in the confrontation that had ensued. You were the aggressor throughout.
“During the course of that confrontation, I am sure that you punched Mark Robinson twice, and very hard, and that as a result of those punches he fell heavily to the floor, possibly striking a nearby radiator as he fell.”
JEALOUS HUSBAND
The estranged husband who stabbed Sally Turner 68 times in her daughter’s home has been locked up after he launched the brutal attack when he became ‘obsessed’ with her sexual activity.
Harry Turner was branded ‘selfish’ for the sustained attack on his wife after he learned she was having an affair with a taxi driver.
The 50-year-old suffered a catalogue of injuries in the sustained assault with Turner having to use a second knife after damaging the blade of a kitchen knife due to the ferocity of the attack.
Mrs Turner was described as a loving grandmother as Judge James Adkin sentenced the 54-year-old postal worker to life in prison with a minimum term of 17 years and 120 days.
Jurors had heard how Turner admitted attacking his wife on June 22 last year but denied murder as he had no recollection of carrying out the fatal assault.
The judge said: “You became sexually obsessed with Sally Turner, you tried to catch her having an affair, using recording devices, you also got workmates to spy on her.
“I accept you had affection for your step grandchildren, but you allowed your anger to take precedence over their needs.”
Turner was unanimously convicted of Sally Turner’s murder in her daughter’s house on Cuthbert Avenue, Durham, following a trial at Teesside Crown Court.
Jurors had heard how the estranged couple had met up for coffee on the morning of the murder before Turner launched the brutal attack.
“You had launched a brutal attack on her, stabbing her with a large kitchen knife until that broke and then going back to the kitchen, selecting another knife and continuing to attack her.
“The worst injury was a slash-type wound to her throat.”
BROTHERLY FEUD
A sibling rivalry which occasionally descended into violence came to a catastrophic conclusion when a drink and drug fuelled brawl ended with a fatal stabbing.
Inderjit Klare stabbed his younger brother several times with a kitchen knife and left him to bleed to death on the floor of their family-owned fish and chip shop.
The 43-year-old disgraced pharmacist severed an artery in Jasreet Klare’s right arm when he plunged the knife straight through his arm as he attempted to defend himself.
Teesside Crown Court heard how Inderjit waited for 90 minutes before calling the emergency services and by the time they arrived he had bled to death – an outcome which could have been prevented with basic first aid.
Jurors convicted him of murdering his 40-year-old brother in the early hours of October 9 last year in Bishop Auckland.
Jamie Hill KC, prosecuting, said toxicology tests showed that the brothers had taken cocaine at some point during the night as well consuming alcohol.
Despite that, the murderer had the presence of mind to attempt to hose away the blood in a vain attempt to destroy evidence of his violent attack on his brother.
He also made attempts to hide the weapon and the CCTV equipment from inside the business premises on Tenters Street, Bishop Auckland.
He said: “It is reasonable to conclude that the fatal injury was inflicted early in the attack that injury was not in an area which would usually lead to death.
“The later injuries were not life-threatening in themselves and it does not appear that those injuries were inflicted to cause anything other than serious injury.
“On the other hand, the persistence of your attack aggravates the seriousness of this offence and I cannot overlook the failure to do anything to save your brother’s life.
“Jasreet Klare could have been saved if you had acted to do but your failure to do first aid shows you had no intention of saving his life.”
BLIND DRUNK
A ‘blind drunk’ driver whose car burst into flames when he killed a taxi driver in a high-speed crash has been locked up.
James Hobson had downed up to ten pints of lager and eight shots of tequila before stumbling out of the pub and climbing behind the wheel of his hired Mercedes C-Class when he eventually remembered where he had parked it.
The 33-year-old transport company owner reached speeds in excess of 100mph as he attempted to lose a pursuing police vehicle by undertaking cars and driving through red lights after leaving the Highfield pub.
Teesside Crown Court heard how Hobson was driving on the wrong side of the road when he smashed into a taxi driven by Malik Ameer Abbas.
The 27-year-old from Middlesbrough died after a late-night crash on the A172 at Dixons Bank, on March 29 last year.
The court heard how Hobson had racked up a bar bill of £116 before driving at dangerously high speed whilst on a Facetime call to his partner.
The Recorder of Middlesbrough Paul Watson KC told Hobson his driving was ‘some of the worst’ he had seen in recent years.
“You are a 33-year-old with two convictions for driving with excess alcohol, as a result of one of those incidents, you wrapped a car around a lamppost – it may have been a long time ago but you didn’t learn your lesson,” he said.
Hobson was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison.
VIOLENT BULLIES
Two men who beat a father-of-one to death in a flurry of kicks, punches and stamps, have been locked up for life after being found guilty of murder.
Lee Hogg and Terry Dalton launched the vicious attack when a night of drinking and drug taking spiralled into the murder of Carlos Boyce following an argument about crack cocaine.
The pair were also found guilty of battering Joseph Spencer unconscious with a vodka bottle when he tried to stop them attacking his friend inside his Middlesbrough flat.
Hogg, who was described as a bully during the trial, took umbrage at Mr Spencer standing up to him when he tried to tell him what he could do in his own home.
Teesside Crown Court heard how Dalton lured Mr Boyce into the hallway before the two men launched a savage attack on the 36-year-old – punching, kicking and stamping, on their victim before hitting him with a piece of broken sink and hosing him down with scalding water.
They then attacked Mr Spencer, pinning him to floor and smashing a vodka bottle into his head before eventually leaving the flat on Homerton Road, on November 11, last year.
Sentencing the pair, Judge Howard Crowson described Hogg being in a ‘belligerent’ mood when he turned up to supply drugs to Mr Spencer’s home before the night descended into fatal violence.
He said: “You both encouraged Mr Boyce into the hallway and there, and in the bathroom, he was subjected to a determined and persistent beating involving stamping, kicking, blows with a hoover pipe and a large piece of the broken sink pedestal.
“Carlos Boyce was left with dreadful head injuries, and if you had cared to check, he was still alive throughout your assault on him.
“As he lay still alive, you hosed him down with scalding water from the shower.”
Hogg, 38, of Lindisfarne Road, Ormesby, was jailed for a minimum of 21 years in custody while 53-year-old Dalton, of Ellerbeck Way, Ormesby, was told he would serve a minimum of 20 years, for the murder of Mr Boyce and for inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Spencer.
Hartlepool killers
A man was killed after he was crushed underneath a car when he was hounded through the streets in a ‘mob-handed’ revenge attack after he stabbed a love-rival with a knife.
Adam Thomson kicked his way into his ex-partner’s Hartlepool home and attacked her new partner, Anthony Hadfield, before being chased from the property after he suffered a stab wound to his cheek.
Hadfield called his sister Sarah Hadfield and Steven Corbett, who arrived at the scene on Sydenham Road in a Ford Focus, before the gang cornered the 30-year-old armed with knives.
Witnesses recorded the fatal incident as it occurred and detectives were able to track down CCTV footage to piece together exactly what happened in the early hours of Wednesday, January 4.
David Lamb KC, prosecuting, Sarah Hadfield made two attempts at hitting the father-of-one with her car before finally finding her target on the third attempt as they chased him through the streets.
Footage then showed the different members of the gang trying to push the car off the trapped Mr Thomson before fleeing the scene as police arrived.
Detectives were able to recover footage of them as they ran through the streets and piece together their actions.
Hadfield and Corbett were spotted dropping their knives into rubbish bins as they made their way home from the scene. At one point, Corbett was recorded hiding behind a low wall as police cars were scouring the area looking for the suspects.
Sarah Hadfield, of Brenda Road, Hartlepool, was sentenced to five years and 11 months and banned from driving for five years and four months. The court heard how the 35-year-old had given birth just months before the incident.
And 40-year-old Anthony Hadfield, of Wensleydale Street, Hartlepool, was jailed for seven years and seven months.
While 31-year-old Corbett, of Brenda Road, Hartlepool, who is the father of three of Sarah Hadfield’s children, was jailed for five years and five months.
Deadly driver
The family of a man killed by a speeding drunken motorist told him to ‘rot in hell’ as he was jailed for 12 years for the senseless death.
Arron Dunlop downed at least six double Southern Comforts and Jagerbombs before getting behind the wheel of his Audi A5 and speeding away from the George and Dragon pub where he had spent then evening drinking.
Within minutes, the 30-year-old smashed into the rear of Paul Greenfield’s motorbike in Norton, Stockton, as he made his way home from work.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the father-of-three was carried on the bonnet of the speeding Audi for a few hundred metres before being thrown onto a grass verge.
Cheryl Greenfield said the couple met while working at the KP factory in Billingham and her husband was returning home from his shift when he was killed.
The mother-of-three told the court she knew something had happened when he failed to return home and came across the horrendous scene while she was searching for him.
“There are no words to describe this, nobody should have to go through what we have had to,” she said. “He was doing nothing wrong; Peter was just minutes away from home when he was killed.”
Dunlop, of Alma Street, Stockton, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and failing to provide a specimen.
Judge Paul Watson KC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, branded Dunlop’s driving as shocking and slammed him for trying to ‘skulk in Spain’ in a bid to evade justice.
Callous murderer
A violent thug who beat a friend with a wine bottle and a walking stick has been branded a coward as he was jailed for life for the brutal murder.
Dean James Williams became enraged when Ian MacNeil refused to share his heroin with him and launched a vicious assault on the 46-year-old.
The 50-year-old refused to attend court to learn his fate as he was locked up for a minimum of 16 years following the fatal attack on November 28, 2021.
Judge Paul Watson KC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, called the murderer coercive and manipulative as he lambasted him for trying to persuade a witness to point the finger of blame at another man.
“You have chosen not to attend the last few days of the trial, providing the court with excuses because the reality is that you do not want to attend because you cannot face the consequences of what you did.
“Your failure to attend court is illustrative of the sort of manipulative, coercive and cowardly character that you are. You don’t even have the courage to face the court today to hear your sentence.”
Dealing with the violence, he said: “You punched him repeatedly in the face and continued to demand money for drugs or drugs.
“At some point you had picked up an empty bottle of wine – first you threatened him with it but eventually, with him continuing to hold his ground, you hit him about the body with it."
Judge Watson sentenced Williams to life in prison and told him he must serve at least 16 years in custody before he is eligible for parole.
Murdering sister
A woman stabbed her sister to death after their feud spiralled out of control following months of aggravation between family members.
Marie Metcalfe, who is one of 15 siblings, had been in a long-running conflict with several members of her large family including her elder sister Laura.
Laura, 44, had lived in Scotland for almost 20 years before returning to Hartlepool with her three children to live close to her family following a breakdown of her relationship.
The 41-year-old defendant had accused Laura and two other sisters of assaulting her in July last year but the case was finally dropped at the beginning of this year.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the defendant had a history of violent behaviour including smashing a glass in a woman's face in a pub and hitting a man over the head with a hammer during an argument in the street.
Judge Howard Crowson sentenced Metcalfe to life imprisonment and told her she would serve at least 18 years in custody before being eligible for parole.
He said: "It is not entirely clear for how long you were in possession of the knife, it was not a small knife and you must have had it before you went to the shop.
"You had carried it through local streets and into the shop before the confrontation with Laura, you did carry it to the scene of this murder.
"You have a history of violence using weapons, including striking a woman to the head with a glass and striking a man to a hammer to the head."
Double killer
A balaclava-clad psychotic man who used a sledgehammer and kitchen knife to brutally murder a young Sicilian couple has been detained in a secure unit.
Andrea Cardinale was in the grip of a schizophrenic episode when he bludgeoned 26-year-old Antonio Calabro, known as Nino, to death before turning his attention and his fiancé Francesca Di Dio late last year.
He was caught on CCTV chasing the 20-year-old through the flats before throwing her down the stairs and bludgeoning her to death in the basement.
The 22-year-old then went to a service station to fill a fuel can with diesel before dousing it all over the flat on Thornaby Road, Thornaby, last December.
Cardinale’s family were so concerned about the state of his mental health that his father travelled to the UK to try to persuade his son to come home.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the defendant was hearing voices urging him to kill the couple in the belief that they had put the ‘evil eye’ on him.
He said: “The defendant can be seen on CCTV chasing Francesca upstairs. He was wearing a balaclava and carrying a knife.
“He got his sledgehammer and held Francesca at the top of the stairs. He was then seen to drag her down to the basement.
"He collected the sledgehammer, before returning to the basement.”
Judge Paul Watson KC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, passed an indeterminate hospital order after hearing medical reports into the defendant’s state of mind at the time of the killings.
Drunken killer
A man has been jailed for 14 years for the brutal killing of a vulnerable man severely beaten in his own home.
Kieran Potts punched, kicked, and stamped on Norman Ryan minutes after he had become embroiled in a scuffle with his own father.
The 24-year-old was told that his violent attack was 'severe and pitiless' when he appeared before Teesside Crown Court this morning (Friday, October 6).
Judge Paul Watson KC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, told the defendant that he was certain that some of the fatal blows were delivered while the 55-year-old was laid on the floor of his Hartlepool flat.
He said: "This was a severe and pitiless attack on Mr Ryan.
"Though shortlived, it involved multiple stamps and kicks to his head with sufficient force to cause violent twisting which led to that fatal brain injury.
"For at least part of it he was laying defenceless on the floor. He was vulnerable by reason of his age and health but also by his level of intoxication at the time of the attack."
The 55-year-old died in hospital several days after the attack on August 31, last year.
Sharon Beattie KC, prosecuting, said the injuries were consistent with Mr Ryan being punched, kicked, and stamped on.
John Elvidge KC, representing Potts, said it was clear that all parties had been drinking and accepted that it would be an aggravating feature for his client.
Potts, of Moffatt Road, Hartlepool, was found guilty of manslaughter following a trial in August. He was cleared of murder.
Brutal killer
A man stabbed his drinking buddy in the neck, head, and body almost 50 times in a ferocious attack before attempting to dismember his tied up body.
David Thompson-Love battered Maurice Bennett with a kettle and tin of food before using a multiple weapons to stab the 54-year-old to death in his Middlesbrough flat.
When he was found by his victim's family, he was still holding a knife and said “I’ve done wrong haven’t I?”
The 37-year-old went out to buy a hacksaw, cleaning products and alcohol before returning home to try and dismember his friend’s body while the hacksaw blade was upside down.
Teesside Crown Court heard how Thompson-Love plunged a knife and potato peeler into Mr Bennett, known as Moza, while his hand was tied to his leg.
Nick Dry, prosecuting, said the bloody scene was found by Moza’s partner and sister when they became concerned when they couldn’t contact him on April 7 this year and later found him dead in the defendant’s flat.
He said Thompson-Love would rely on his victim and his family to the extent that they even made him his Christmas dinner.
Thompson-Love, of Oakrise, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to murder when he appeared in court in June.
Judge Paul Watson KC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, passed a life sentence and told the defendant that he would serve a minimum of 18 years and four months in custody for the "utterly inexplicable and astonishing" murder.
CHILD KILLER
A man who shook a baby to death after he learned his benefits had been stopped and drug dealers were putting pressure on him over a debt has been jailed for life.
Michael Daymond took his frustrations out on Maya Chappell after he lost control of his temper while he was looking after his new partner’s toddler.
The two-year-old’s mother, Dana Carr, has been locked up for turning a blind eye to the abuse which had been going on for a number of weeks before the youngster’s untimely death.
The 27-year-old was supposedly caring for Maya on the afternoon of September 28, when she fell seriously ill at their home in Shotton Colliery.
As paramedics and police carried out CPR, Daymond, who had rung Carr before dialling 999, was on the phone in another room concerned that his Universal Credit payments had been stopped.
Maya died two days later in Newcastle’s RVI hospital without regaining consciousness.
Judge Mr Justice Bright, sitting at Teesside Crown Court, said Maya’s suffering had been going on for around five-weeks before her untimely death and nothing he could do or say would ease the family’s pain and suffering.
The judge has sentenced Daymond to life with a minimum term of 20 years as he continues to deny responsibility for the murder.
"This was a murder of a young child; she was particularly vulnerable because of her age. She had been left in your care and you abused that trust," he said.
"The jury were told they could convict you of murder if they were sure that you intended to inflict GBH and I am sure that this was their view, as regards your intent.
"It is clear that this was not planned or premeditated. It is not a case that involved abduction or any sexual motive. Despite the cruelty with which Maya was treated, over a period of some weeks, I do not consider that you were motivated by sadism."
"The lies you told these people were about the state of Maya’s health and about the causes of her bruises.
"They were mostly lies told to conceal the fact that Michael Daymond was responsible for Maya’s injuries and to prevent other people from having the opportunity to see the worst of them. These were lies told by someone who knew the extent of Maya’s injuries and who had caused them."
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