Arsonists, shop robbers, danger drivers and perpetrators of domestic violence have all been jailed at Durham Crown Court in September.
Despite the release of many inmates across the country earlier in their sentences, to provide some respite for over full prisons, there has been the usual flow of newly convicted prisoners taking up many of those spaces.
Paul Moses attended, uninvited, the home of a woman with whom he had been in an on/off relationship over several years, using the excuse he owned the property, as he refused to sell after their split.
Moses, 42, of Dixon Way, Coundon, admitted stalking and three counts of common assault.
Judge Nathan Adams told Moses that his behaviour, “over a significant period, from April 2023 to May this year, was deeply concerning”.
The judge said the defendant excused his behaviour when he broke into the property, as he was the owner, having refused to sell.
“It was utter nonsense.
“Your behaviour was clearly designed to cause distress on your behalf.
“In my assessment you used your partners as pieces of property under your control.
“It was protracted action over a prolonged period of time, intended to maximise distress.
“It’s caused very serious distress to the victim, aggravated by your previous convictions, with a considerable history of domestic violence against other partners.”
Imposing a three-year prison sentence, Judge Adams told the defendant: “I very much hope when you come out to will put yourself in a position where you don’t repeat the offending.”
The judge also put in place a restraining order prohibiting the defendant from trying to contact or approach his most recent former partner, “directly or indirectly”, "until further order".
Cannabis farmer Mirjan Disha was found trying to hide among ventilation in the loft of a property where he was tending 118 plants.
Police had gone to disused commercial premises in The Oval, West Cornforth, following an anonymous call over the suspected presence of cannabis plants, on July 30.
The court heard that on knocking to seek entry to the flat above former shop premises, there was no answer, although there was the sound of movement from within the property.
Entry was, therefore, forced and it soon became evident the officers had come across a large cannabis farm, with plants in various stages of growth.
It was only later that the defendant was found trying to hide in the loft area and he was arrested.
He was found in possession of keys to the property and to an unknown motor vehicle, while he also had a mobile phone.
The court heard that at wholesale rates a full yield could net between £20,000 and £60,000, but at street-level prices there would be the potential to make up to £99,000 from the crop alone.
It was thought that about £13,000-worth of equipment was being used in the property to assist in the cannabis cultivation.
The 24-year-old defendant, previously of Chatham, in Kent, admitted a single count of production of a class B drug.
Elisha Marsay, in mitigation, said the defendant, of Albanian origin, entered the country illegally and worked in car washes before being approached with the offer of different employment, including accommodation and food.
He agreed and was driven to the location of the grow in County Durham about a month earlier, when he soon became aware of the scale of the operation.
Judge Adams imposed a 20-month prison sentence and told the defendant he would serve about 40-per cent before being eligible for release.
The judge said Disha is then likely to face automatic deportation back to Albania as an illegal entrant to this country, having committed a crime while here unlawfully.
A teenager influenced by an “associate” attempted to set light to a house in which two female inhabitants were asleep upstairs in the early hours of the morning.
Lewis Rutherford, then aged 18, tried to light a rag with an accelerant and push it through the letterbox of the house in Spennymoor, shortly before 3.40am on February 20, last year.
He then turned, climbed over the fence and walked away from the property.
The woman living there with her mother woke on hearing the windows smashing and looked out to see the culprit leaving on foot.
On viewing CCTV they saw the footage capturing the incident.
The court heard it was the fourth in a sequence of attacks on their home, or on the car parked outside, between late December 2022 and February last year.
Police were able to pinpoint Rutherford as the perpetrator through DNA traces left at the scene.
The, now, 20-year-old defendant of York Hill Crescent, Spennymoor, admitted a charge of attempted arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.
Judge Marson said the victims should feel safe in their own home without having to suffer the type of attacks that took place between December 2022 and the attempted arson on February 20, 2023.
“These involved a close associate of yours and you decided to wreak revenge on these two perfectly innocent women in their own home at night.
“You made a determined attempt to put a rag covered in accelerant through their front letter box.
“Had you succeeded in doing that, undoubtedly there would have been a high risk of very serious physical harm.
“I have heard victim impact statements.
“What happened that night was bad enough, but what might have happened will be forever with your victims.
“They will be haunted by the prospect of what might have happened and there has been very serious psychological effects, affecting their daily lives.
“It was a determined revenge attack, under the influence of alcohol, on bail and while wearing a disguise.”
Imposing a 45-month young offenders’ institute sentence, Judge Marson told Rutherford that had he been an adult offender (aged 21 or above), “you would have been going to custody for a much longer period.”
He also put in place a restraining order prohibiting the defendant from approaching or trying to contact his victim, “until further order”, or, in other words, “without limit of time.”
The rider, Kaine Forster, and two pillion passengers were thrown from a powerful speeding motorcycle when it collided with a car making a turning manoeuvre.
All three casualties, two of whom were not wearing helmets, suffered serious injuries, but it could have proved fatal for one of them who the court was told possibly only survived due to the prompt medical attention of a passing off-duty prison officer.
Forster, who was riding the 700CC Yamaha machine, which had its number plate removed, had driven at speed over a zebra crossing in a residential area of Annfield Plain, near Stanley, a few seconds earlier.
He was then seen “showing off” by performing a wheelie, before a car two vehicles ahead indicated to turn right.
Jonathan Gittins, prosecuting, said as the driver of the Renault Grand Scenic slowly began to make the move, at the junction of Loud Terrace and West Road, Forster was travelling at an estimated 84 to 89-miles per hour.
The motorcycle struck the rear offside of the Renault, the impact of which caused Forster and his two passengers to be thrown from the motorcycle.
Mr Gittins said the passing off-duty prison officer performed CPR on the most gravely injured of the three casualties, prior to the arrival of ambulances and the Great North Air Ambulance at the scene.
He suffered bleeding on the brain, fractures to the neck, upper spine, ribs, thigh bone and facial bones, plus trauma injuries to the spleen and liver.
The victim also suffered a pulmonary embolism and remained in hospital from the day of the collision, in late morning on July 5 last year, until October 23.
Mr Gittins said more than a year after the incident he still has cognitive issues and lingering problems with some of his fractured limbs for which he may require further surgery.
Forster, 24, of Co-operative Terrace West, in Dipton, near Stanley, who denied being the Yamaha rider, even up to a magistrates' hearing in the case, in June this year, finally admitted a charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving at a plea hearing on his first appearance at the crown court, in July.
Judge Richard Bennett told Forster: “You drove in a residential area of Stanley at a high speed, past a zebra crossing and performed a wheelie to show off.”
The judge said unlike the defendant, the female driver of Scenic was driving slowly and indicated, before beginning to make, “a perfectly lawful manoeuvre”.
He imposed a 30-month prison sentence and said it would have been 40 months had he not pleaded guilty when he did.
The judge banned the defendant from driving, either cars or motorbikes, for a total of 39 months and he must sit an extended re-test to lawfully be able to take to the road in future.
Judge Bennett also formally commended the prison officer for her, “quick and prompt actions”, which, “may well have saved the life”, of his passenger.
A ‘learner’ driver had been drinking and took cocaine before going out with friends in his car, then blamed another motorist for a collision after he drove out from a junction.
Kyle Zelinka, who was facing a court appearance for drug driving two days later, was at the wheel of a Renault Clio, containing three passengers, when he caused the two-car crash, in Shotton Colliery, shortly before 10.30am on August 14.
The Nissan, driven by a woman with her partner in the front passenger seat and a 20-month child in the back, was spun around 180-degrees with the impact deploying its air bags.
Zelinka’s Renault careered off the road and collided with two parked cars nearby.
Both vehicles in the collision suffered extensive damage.
One passenger in the Renault suffered a head injury, while the Nissan driver said she was left with a ringing noise in her head from the collision and required hospital treatment for swellings and pain in both knees, plus other injuries to her right arm and back, a sprain to her right ankle and bruising to her stomach.
She said she still recalls her young son in the back of the car screaming after the crash, and she has been unable to pick him up and look after him as normal due to her injuries.
Zelinka appeared impaired by drink or drugs and was aggressive immediately after the collision, blaming the Nissan driver for not stopping.
He was arrested and gave a positive drug wipe and roadside breath test.
By the time a more formal test was conducted two-and-a-half hours later. at the police station, the alcohol reading was very marginally under the drink drive limit.
When interviewed later Zelinka apologised and said he had not realised he should have stopped at the junction.
He told police he had drunk six bottles of strong lager, with two or three whiskies, and had taken cocaine before driving, conceding he was aware he should not have been driving.
Judge Richard Bennett told Zelinka: “You were driving when you were only a provisional licence holder and you failed to stop at a junction.
“It’s clear you were travelling at a reckless speed approaching that junction.
“You had made a clear decision to ignore the rules of the road with complete disregard for other people and those in your own vehicle.”
Imposing a 14-month prison sentence, the judge also banned Zelinka from driving for 31 months.
Jamie Byron Taylor came before the crown court over two instances of public violence in Newton Aycliffe, in little more than an hour on the evening after he attended the funeral of a close friend.
When officers arrived, onlookers pointed them in the direction of both combatants, who ran off, and a meat cleaver was recovered at the scene.
One of the men told the officers Taylor had followed him to a shop carrying a meat cleaver, threatening to “chop him up”.
Police reviewed cctv from a shop camera at 7.24pm that evening in which Taylor, with the meat cleaver, was chasing the other man, who sought refuge in the premises.
He then went into the shop, having left the weapon outside, and a fist fight took place.
On further examination of the footage another crime involving Taylor was observed at 6.21pm that evening.
Taylor was seen coming into frame and a scuffle took place between him and several women, one of whom was assaulted or shoved by him.
When Taylor was later arrested he had to be tasered to ensure he complied with the officers.
Taylor, 24, of Gilpin Road, Newton Aycliffe, admitted assault by beating and possessing a bladed article at his first court appearance on August 16.
Less than a fortnight before committing the offences on August 7 Taylor had received a 16-week prison sentence, suspended for a year, for a charge of harassment with fear of violence.
He also served a 48-week sentence, imposed in May 2022, for affray, battery and assault causing actual bodily harm.
Judge Nathan Adams told Taylor: “I’ve seen the footage of what happened in Newton Aycliffe on August 7, when you were outside a local shop, highly agitated, punching the air, and to all intents and purposes looking for a fight, with lots of young people around.
“You were clearly being asked to calm down by members of the public.
“You were shoved by one of the young ladies asking you to calm down, and you came back and shoved her.
“If that was the end of it you might not have ended in custody.”
But Judge Adams said Taylor then went looking for further trouble with a man who was clearly trying to defend himself, trying to run away, while the defendant was carrying a meat cleaver.
He said Taylor tossed away the meat cleaver and went into the shop seeking to fight the other man, with members of the public again trying to restrain him.
"There was no explanation for the violence.
“Grief does not allow you to behave as you did, it’s no excuse.”
Activating three months from the recently imposed suspended sentence, Judge Adams imposed a total 19-month prison sentence and ordered forfeiture and destruction of the meat cleaver.
A man deliberately set fire to his ex-partner’s home, filming himself in the act and sending the footage to her, “to maximise the distress”, the court heard.
John George Middleton admitted arson with being reckless as to whether life was endangered, having forced his way into the house, in Delves Lane, Consett, on April 5.
Thirty-year-old Middleton, of Ryton Crescent, Seaham, also admitted two counts of assault by beating, one of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of criminal damage to a mobile phone, following several “domestic” incidents, in March and April, prior to the arson attack.
The estimated damage to the rented semi-detached house from the fire was put at £10,000, having “enormous” financial impact on the landlady of the property as she was unable to re-let it for several months while repairs took place.
Mr Baker said after the fire, Middleton “bombarded” his, by then, ex-partner with 115 calls in which he admitted kicking her house door in and telling her he hoped she killed herself.
Police went to Middleton’s home address days later and he tried to barricade himself into a bedroom.
He was detained after a struggle and found to be in possession of a small, bladed implement, threatening that he would, “find her”, relating to his ex-partner.
He admitted other offences of dangerous driving, two counts of driving while unfit through drugs, plus having no insurance and driving while disqualified, all stemming from a police chase in the Consett area on December 27.
Judge Nathan Adams told Middleton in his mind, the arson was, “a deliberate, targeted attack, designed to maximise the distress to your partner, and videoed by you for precisely that purpose.”
The judge said he considers Middleton poses, “a significant risk of the commission of further serious offences, given your escalating record”.
He, therefore, imposed an extended determinate sentence, “for the protection of the public.”
It features a six-year custodial element, of which Middleton must serve at least two-thirds before being eligible for consideration for release by the Parole Board, but he may have to serve the full six years.
Upon his release, at whatever point, Middleton will be subject of four years’ extended licence period.
Judge Adams also made him the subject of a lifetime restraining order, relating to his ex-partner, and he must also serve a ten-year driving disqualification
A man under the influence of drugs kicked his partner in the stomach during a row just ten days after she underwent an emergency C-section operation, a court was told.
Michael Burns also grabbed the woman tightly around the throat, to the point where she briefly began to pass out, in the incident at her home in Durham, in the early hours of April 30 this year.
She briefly returned home to collect belongings ten days later and arrived at 2am to find her partner present.
Jon Harley, prosecuting, said during her stay in hospital she had received abusive messages from him and she formed the view he may have been “cheating” on her.
On her return home to collect items he became “rowdy” and appeared under the influence of drugs.
When she suggested he may have been seeing another woman, he raised his hand to her and slapped her across the face causing her to fall to the floor.
He then grabbed her neck and squeezed, leaving her struggling to breathe, before releasing his grip and kicking her to the stomach a number of times causing her C-section to partially reopen with some blood loss.
Mr Harley said the victim described the defendant kicking her stomach, “like a football”.
On her return to hospital staff described her as “looking grey”, although by then the bleeding had stopped.
Mr Harley said there had been some discharge of fluid, but no further bleeding and the wound was treated.
Having denied all charges originally, with the case listed for trial, the 29-year-old defendant of Havelock Terrace, Ryhope, Sunderland, admitted intentional strangulation and assault causing actual bodily harm, on August 19, nine days before his victim was to be cross-examined as part of the trial process.
The court was told the offence put him in breach of a suspended sentence order imposed earlier in April, weeks before the latest incident took place.
Judge Richard Bennett told Burns that rather than be supportive while his partner was in hospital undergoing emergency treatment, he sent her abusive messages.
When she returned home on the night of April 30 to collect property, she asked if the defendant had been cheating on her and he responded with violence.
“It’s clear you were under the influence of drugs.
“You kicked her to the stomach and choked her throat, and when she returned to hospital the staff could see she was clearly unwell.
“You caused her multiple injuries to the face and neck area.
“Your violence has affected her psychologically.”
Judge Bennett told Burns that, having read his Probation Service pre-sentence report, in which he appeared to “minimise” his offending: “It appears you have an entrenched and negative attitude to women with a desire to control and it appears you have been abusive to multiple partners.”
The judge said he was satisfied the defendant poses a risk to any future domestic partners.
He imposed a 30-month prison sentence but added a further three months, activated from the previous suspended sentence, in April.
The judge also made the defendant subject to a five-year restraining order preventing him from contacting, directly or indirectly, or approaching his, now ex-partner.
A woman who is considered to pose a danger to the public has received an extended prison sentence after admitting shoving lit paper through a house letter box at night.
For no apparent reason, Anne-Marie Griffiths targeted the home of a woman who had previously shown her kindness, as the victim was sleeping upstairs at the property in Jubilee Street, Middlesbrough, on January 29.
Griffiths alerted no-one and walked away, as smoke started to mount at the targeted address.
It was only the barking of the victim’s dogs and the triggering of smoke alarms which alerted the householder, who went downstairs and found the ground floor filled with black smoke and a big flame inside the door.
She threw the lit papers out of the front door and opened the back door to help clear the smoke.
On examination of CCTV in the street, smoke was emitting from the roof area, while the defendant was seen returning to the house, pretending to have just come across the smoke-logged property, then appearing to be assisting.
She hung around and was arrested after fragments of the ignited papers and letters shoved through the letter box were found to contain her name and address, which was later backed by dna evidence.
Judge Richard Bennett said despite, “overwhelming evidence”, 35-year-old Griffiths, of Bramley Parade, Stockton, denied alternative counts of attempted arson with intent to endanger life and being reckless as to whether life was endangered.
She appeared from custody for the first day of the trial at Teesside Crown Court in June but chose not to attend the rest of the hearing.
Griffiths was acquitted of the more serious count, but found guilty by the jury, on June 17, of arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.
Judge Bennett told the sentencing hearing that the victim remains “perplexed” why a woman, to whom she had shown kindness, had behaved in such a way.
“Understandably this has had an horrific effect on her and she feels fortunate to still be alive.”
He said Griffiths is considered to pose a high risk of causing serious harm.
“This was an attack on a terraced residential property in the early hours of the morning which potentially risked the lives of those in the property and those living either side.”
Sentencing her as posing a risk to the public, he imposed a five-year custodial element, of which Griffiths must serve at least two-thirds, to be followed by an extended three-year licence period.
A restraining order prohibits her from contacting or approaching the victim in the targeted property for an indefinite period.
Griffiths is also forbidden from entering Jubilee Street, also indefinitely.
A man continued to contact his ex-partner in breach of a restraining order months after it was put in place to protect her from his harassment.
Jonathan Bennett, also known as Kitson, was made subject of the order, forbidding contact directly or indirectly with his former partner, at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court, in June last year.
Most of the messages were said to be of a remorseful nature, in which the defendant apologised for his behaviour and claimed he had changed.
But the tone subsequently escalated, with one message threatening the woman’s new partner.
The victim described it as, “unwanted contact” and said she found it, “stressful”, as she considered some of the communication to have been, “nasty and rotten.”
She added: “I’m sick of living my life under threat from him.”
The 43-year-old defendant of Vane Terrace, Darlington, admitted seven breaches of the original restraining order, only, however, on the day of trial, in June this year, having previously denied the offences.
He has since remained in custody awaiting sentence.
Judge Nathan Adams told the defendant: “That restraining order was only issued on June 14, last year, for 12 months to protect your now former partner from further harassment from you.
“It made it plain that there was to be no contact in any way for the following 12 months.
“Within a week of the magistrates making it clear, you were sending messages, which you continued to do for the next few months.
“It’s right to say many were not threatening, but they were clearly harassing.”
The judge said there were some, “unpleasant undertones” on certain occasions when the defendant “lost it” on finding out his ex-partner was in a new relationship.
“Being part of a suspended sentence order, you were aware of how serious that was and you were fully aware of the consequences.”
Judge Adams said in such circumstances it could not be said to be “unjust” to activate part of the suspended sentences.
Imposing a six-month prison sentence for the breaches of the restraining order, the judge activated six months from the suspended sentence orders, to make a total 12-month sentence.
The judge made a new restraining order, relating to the defendant’s former partner, to run for two years.
A would-be robber went on a mostly unsuccessful spree targeting convenience stores in Ferryhill, only managing to steal some chocolate from one of the premises.
Steven Michael Gill was said to have fallen into, “a cycle” of serving prison sentences, being released into homelessness, misusing drugs and re-offending.
When the assistant refused the defendant’s demand Gill threatened to hit him with the light bulb if he did not hand over £40.
The shop worker continued to refuse his demands and picked up a piece of wood, so Gill retreated and left the shop.
Children were said to have been in the shop at the time and were frightened at what they witnessed.
Gill later turned up at Deanbank Premier Store, in Haig Street, at 7.40pm, also carrying a piece of wood, shouting: “Money, I want money, or I’ll kick your f***ing head in.”
A female customer confronted him, taking the piece of wood from him and asking him to leave the premises, ushering him to the door.
The store manager told police he was very shocked at the incident and grateful to the customer for her prompt actions.
In between those two attempted robberies Gill had also walked into a Co-op store in Ferryhill, shortly after 7pm, and picked up bars of chocolate, before leaving without offering to pay.
Gill was arrested at 8.15pm and made no reply to police questions.
The 41-year-old defendant of Eccleston Road, South Shields, admitted two counts of attempted robbery and one of theft.
Judge Nathan Adams told the defendant: “Most of your offending has been for trying to acquire property that is not yours.
“Although there was a gap between 2014 and 2021, you resorted to similar offending we see here and you received a 34-month sentence in 2021.
“Your licence period had only just expired when you committed this series of offences.”
Imposing a four-year prison sentence, Judge Adams told Gill it would have been five-and-a-half years had he not pleaded guilty.
He told Gill he would spend up to half in prison before being released, again, subject to licence conditions.
The judge added: “If you really do want this to be a line in the sand, then I hope you comply with your licence conditions on release from custody.”
A shoplifter turned store robber in his desperation to feed and fund himself while at large from the police, earlier this year.
Homeless Liam Edward Smith twice targeted lone female assistants in convenience stores in Bishop Auckland as he attempted to forcibly take tobacco products.
The court heard he was detained, but only when other officers arrived following a struggle lasting several minutes, on Saturday August 10.
Smith, 27, formerly of Holborn Road, Esh Winning, has remained in custody since his arrest and has since admitted six counts of theft from shops, two counts of robbery from store workers, plus assault by beating and assaulting an emergency worker.
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Judge Richard Bennett told Smith he used, “substantial force” in both robberies, causing each of the assistants “shock and pain”, while both the store security guard and off-duty police officer were also injured in tackling him.
The judge said the offending was aggravated by the fact the defendant was at large for much of it, knowing he was wanted, and due to his record for violence and other public order matters.
He passed consecutive prison sentences totalling 54 months and two weeks, a little more than four-and-a-half years, of which the defendant will have to spend up to half in custody before his release on licence.
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