‘Lone wolf terrorist’ plotted to blow up RAF Menwith Hill, trial hears

A would-be “lone wolf terrorist” plotted to blow up part of a hospital and an RAF base near Harrogate, a court heard today.

Mohammad Farooq, 28, a clinical support worker, downloaded material from extremist Jihadi groups and online guides on how to make a bomb, then set his sights on RAF Menwith Hill and St James Hospital, a jury was told.

Prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford KC, prosecuting at Sheffield Crown Court, said that Farooq’s “Plan A” was to target the RAF and radar base and when that didn’t come off, he turned his attention to the hospital in Leeds where he worked at the time and was said to harbour a grudge against certain colleagues, namely nurses. 

Farooq’s initial plan was to target the US spy base at Menwith Hill but he also planned to blow up part of the hospital and go on a terrorist spree with a firearm, a homemade bomb and a kitchen knife, with the aim of “killing as many people as possible”.

Mr Sandiford said:

“By January 2023, we say that the defendant had become a self-radicalised lone-wolf terrorist who had made preparations to commit a murderous terrorist attack in Yorkshire.”

At about 5am on January 20, Farooq was arrested outside the Gledhow Wing of St James Hospital.

Mr Sandiford said:

“The defendant was in possession of a viable improvised explosive device assembled from a pressure cooker and containing 9.9 kilos of low explosive.

“He had with him, either on his person or in a bag from his car parked nearby, two knives, black tape and a blank-firing imitation firearm.

“The crown’s case is that he had gone to that hospital to commit a terrorist attack (and) seek his own martyrdom by detonating the explosive device and using bladed weapons to kill as many people as possible.

“The crown says it is likely he intended to use the imitation firearm to induce the police with (what would inevitably be) a response to such an incident to give him a martyrdom that he believed would bring him the seven blessings of the martyr and direct entry into Jannah, or Paradise.”

He said it was only “two pieces of good fortune” that averted a major terrorist atrocity and the potential loss of many lives. 

Mr Sandiford added:

“The defendant’s first plan of attack at St James Hospital was to send a bomb threat, that there was a bomb inside the hospital, with the intent of causing an evacuation while he was waiting in his car in his car park – waiting to detonate the improvised explosive device and then attack any survivors with the bladed weapons.

“He sent that bomb threat by text message when he was outside the hospital in his car. The first piece of good fortune is that the person he sent it to was another nurse at the hospital. 

“She was off duty at home, watching TV, and didn’t see or act upon the message for over an hour. And so, there is the defendant, sat outside waiting for an evacuation that did not occur.”

When people inside the hospital were finally evacuated, it was only a “part-evacuation”, with people being moved within the hospital, not into the car park where Farooq had been waiting.

Mr Sandiford said:

“When the evacuation happened, the defendant drove away.”

He returned to St James a short time later with a new plan of attack which was to carry the weapons including the homemade bomb into the Costa Coffee cafe inside the hospital wing, wait for a change of shift so that it would be full of nurses, “then detonate it, killing as many of them as possible”.

However, “luck intervened again” when a patient having a cigarette outside the entrance bumped into Farooq and “noticed that something appeared to be amiss with the defendant”.

Police were called to the scene and arrested the alleged terror plotter. He was said to be “co-operative and frank” with officers, telling them that the patient had “talked him down”.

Plan to bomb RAF Menwith Hill

The pressure-cooker bomb was made safe by a military bomb-disposal team as police began to run checks on Farooq’s movements prior to the alleged planned attack.

Analysis of his iPhone and his movements in his Seat Ibiza showed that he had also targeted RAF Menwith Hill. 

Mr Sandiford added:

“They found he had become self-radicalised by accessing extremist material and propaganda online containing material published by Islamic State and Al Qaeda.”

Farooq had viewed and downloaded extremist documents and videos on TikTok and lectures by radical preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, the Yemeni imam and leading Al Qaeda figure who was killed in an American drone strike in 2011.

He  also obtained bomb-making instructions from Inspire, a magazine published by Al Qaeda to “encourage lone-wolf terrorist attacks against the west”, particularly the US and UK.

Mr Sandiford said the bomb guide, said to be written by a man referred to as the “Al Qaeda Chef”, was clearly aimed at an “American audience”.

He added:

“The defendant identified RAF Menwith Hill, the US base in North Yorkshire, as a target for a terror attack.

“The reason for that was because RAF Menwith Hill had been designated as a target for lone-wolf terrorists by Islamic State because it was believed that the base had been used to co-ordinate drone strikes against terrorists in Syria and Iraq.”

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Using cell-site technology, police discovered that Farooq had made at least two visits to the RAF base between January 10 and the day of his arrest on January 20. 

Farooq, who appeared for the first day of his trial today, later admitted that he had the explosive device with him when he went to the air base but claimed he had just gone there “for a drive”. 

The internet history on his phone also showed he had been following guidance from another Al Qaeda publication called ‘Safety and Security Guidelines for Lone Wolf Mujahideen and small cells’.

The terror guide recommended that the would-be Mujahideen, or Jihadi solider, should have a ‘Plan A’ and a ‘Plan B’ when planning a terrorist atrocity.

He also “obtained instructions for the preparation and manufacture…of five deadly toxins as nerve agents”, namely Ricin, Sarin, VX, Tabun and Tetrodoxin. 

In addition to downloading bomb-making instructions, Farooq bought a blank-firing imitation firearm and carried out internet research on how to convert it into a weapon capable of firing live ammunition. 

Sheffield Crown Court.

Sheffield Crown Court.

On the ‘Open Source Jihad’ page of Al Qaeda’s terrorist magazine, there was a “map or plan” of RAF Menwith Hill, with an “arrow or flag pointing to Harrogate to the east”.

In the ‘Notes’ section of Farooq’s mobile phone, police found a series of notes in which the alleged would-be terrorist wrote that he “felt alone”.

The notes suggested that Farooq had a “very low sense of self-esteem”, said Mr Sandiford.

In the notes, Farooq said he had “a lot of demons” and was “tired, exhausted and mentally drained”.

He also wrote: 

“I’m hoping there’s a little light in the daily struggles I’m facing. To me, love is a (daily struggle) because I’ve never (found it)”. 

Mr Sandiford added:

“The crown says that the defendant certainly found a purpose (in life) in what he was planning to do in January of this year.”

He said that Farooq had downloaded an image of a lion with the caption ‘If you want to be strong, plan how to fight alone’, which Mr Sandiford said may have been a veiled reference to “the lone Mujahideen”.

Farooq, of Hetton Road, Roundhay, has already admitted possessing an explosive substance in suspicious circumstances, possessing an improvised explosive device and pyrotechnic fuses.

He has also pleaded guilty to possessing a document likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism and having an imitation firearm with criminal intent, namely a Gediz 9mm PAK semi-automatic pistol, and possession of the same imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

However, he denies plotting or engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts and the prosecution must prove intent to cause injury to people and property.  

The trial continues. 

Man, 18, pleads guilty to obstructing police outside Harrogate McDonald’s

An 18-year-old has pleaded guilty to obstructing police on duty following an incident outside McDonald’s in Harrogate yesterday.

Alfie Stevens, of Coates Street, Bradford, appeared before York Magistrates Court today.

He was charged with obstructing a constable in the execution of their duty and breaching bail conditions, however, the latter charge was withdrawn by the court.

Magistrates took Stevens’ guilty plea into account and closed the case after concluding his time spent in detention in custody was sufficient.

A 16-year-old girl was also charged with obstructing a constable in the execution of their duty, as well as obstructing a person assisting a constable in execution of their duty.

She is due to appear at Harrogate Youth Court next month.

The incident took place at 1.40pm outside McDonald’s on Cambridge Road.

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‘Obsessed’ Harrogate man jailed after breaching restraining order

An “obsessed” Harrogate man has been jailed for yet another breach of a restraining order designed to protect his former partner with whom he was “fixated”.

Carl Ingles, 44, made the victim’s life a “complete misery” for years, York Crown Court heard.

Ingles, who held a “responsible” position at Boots Opticians in Harrogate, had received community orders and two short prison sentences in the past for previous offences against the victim including battery, smashing up her property and harassment.  

He was jailed for two years today after he admitted two breaches of a lifetime restraining order.

Threatening and abusive phone calls

Prosecutor Lily Wildman said that Ingles bombarded the woman with “threatening” and abusive phone calls and text messages between March 31 and April 12. He breached the order again on September 5 following a court appearance the day before.

Ingles, of Kent Road, Harrogate, had appeared at the crown court on September 4 when he was bailed with restrictions including a prohibition not to contact the victim. 

However, the following day she was at a hospital appointment when she noticed a message on her phone from Ingles which read: ‘I’m sorry about yesterday in the Crown court. You looked beautiful yesterday and you look beautiful today.’ 

Ms Wildman added:

“She told him to leave her alone (but) then the defendant approached her inside (a restaurant in York).”

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Ingles and the victim had been in a relationship for about nine years until 2017 when the original restraining order was imposed after Ingles was convicted of assaulting her. Since then, there had been five breaches of the order before the latest transgressions.

Ms Wildman said that Ingles had three previous convictions for battery against the victim. He had 12 offences on his record including harassing the same victim and damaging her property. 

Ms Wildman said that Ingles had attacked her on “several occasions” in 2017 which led to the order being imposed, but he breached it within months. His last breach was in August last year when he was given a two-week jail sentence.

Defence barrister Steven Garth said that Ingles, a father-of-two, was working in a “responsible” position at Boots Opticians at the time of his arrest. 

Mr Garth added:

“He fears that he may have now lost that job.

“Had he not had these feelings and this obsession (with) this (victim), no doubt he would have lived a respectable and law-abiding life.”

He said although the relationship ended in 2017, Ingles believed that he and the victim were still an item by 2021. 

Recorder Dafydd Enoch KC said Ingles appeared to have “zero insight” into his “persistent” harassing of the victim. 

He added:

“It’s been going on for years.

“(The victim) is absolutely at the end of her tether.”

He said Ingles had “made (the victim’s) life a complete misery (and) it has been interspersed with violence”.

Mr Enoch added:

“She is worried sick every time she goes where he might be.

“She lives in fear of the defendant.”

Mr Enoch told Ingles: 

“For a considerable number of years you have been fixated on your ex-partner. The relationship appeared to work for a while but ended in violence on your part on several occasions in 2017. 

“There were multiple incidents of violence resulting in restraining orders which you breached from day one. You had absolutely no regard for court orders whatsoever because (of) your obsession.”

He described Ingles’ behaviour towards the victim as “scary” and “disturbing” and that she had been caused “very serious distress”.

He added: 

“It is crystal clear you have been a presence in the life…of this lady which causes (her) constant fear.

“You are not getting the message from the courts for some reason, Mr Ingles, and so the court is left with very little option.”

Ingles will serve half of the two-year jail sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence. He will remain subject to the restraining order for an indefinite period. 

Harrogate boxer jailed after biting man’s ear in bar

A professional boxer from Harrogate has been jailed for more than seven years for wounding a man by biting his ear in a bar.

Guy Kitching, 21, an unbeaten middleweight, was found guilty of wounding with intent this week following a trial at York Crown Court.

The incident occurred during an assault at The Foundry Project in The Ginnel on December 27, 2021. 

A doorman who worked at the bar told the court it was a busy night during the Christmas period and that the scene was “quite chaotic”.

He said he intervened following a disturbance and a man told him he had been bitten.

Under cross-examination from prosecutor Helen Towers, Kitching, of Hillbank View, Harrogate, admitted that he and the named victim had come across each other at the top of the stairs inside the bar and that an argument broke out, but denied biting him.

Ms Towers told the jury that the victim ended up with a very serious wound to his ear. There was said to be some “background” to the incident.

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Earlier this year, Kitching notched up his first professional boxing victory in a performance described by his trainer as “perhaps the best debut performance I have ever seen”.

His professional record currently stands at two wins from two contests.

The former Rossett School pupil, who trained at ABC boxing club in Leeds, enjoyed a distinguished amateur career before gaining his professional licence and signing for VIP Promotions.

A part-time roofer by trade, Kitching finished many of his 23 amateur bouts by stoppage, winning several Yorkshire belts and qualifying for national finals.

Judge Simon Hickey jailed Kitching for seven years and six months. 

Ripon Conservatives president acquitted of causing death by careless driving

A hotel boss and Tory constituency president has been found not guilty of causing the death of a grandmother by careless driving.

Nicholas Ayrton Bannister, 64, president of Skipton and Ripon Conservatives, was driving his Range Rover in his hotel and spa complex when it collided with 66-year-old Judith Wadsworth who was crossing a pedestrian walkway.

Mrs Wadsworth, who was a guest at the hotel and was there to see her daughter get married, is believed to have died at the scene of the accident at the Coniston Hotel Country Estate & Spa in Skipton.

Mr Bannister, the hotel’s managing director, was charged with causing death by careless driving but denied the allegation and, following a trial at Bradford Crown Court which lasted over a week, the prosecution today decided to offer no further evidence.

Judge Jonathan Gibson directed the jury to return a formal not-guilty verdict and Mr Bannister was allowed to walk free from court. 

Prosecuting barrister Michael Smith said that the “evidential test” had not been met and that there was no longer a “realistic prospect of conviction”.

He said the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) would therefore be offering no further evidence against Mr Bannister.

He added: 

“In light of all the evidence this jury have heard…the CPS take the view there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction in this case.”

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Defence barrister Lisa Judge said there had been “flagrant failings” by the CPS in its prosecution of the case, both evidentially and in terms of disclosure. 

She said the defence would be seeking costs for Mr Bannister following the prosecution’s decision to drop the case and the not-guilty verdict. 

Judge Mr Gibson said he thought the prosecution’s decision to drop the case was “entirely appropriate”.   

During the trial, the jury heard that Mr Bannister had turned right out of a junction near the hotel reception and didn’t see Mrs Wadsworth.

The prosecution said that Mrs Wadsworth, who was walking from the car park back to the reception after collecting items from her vehicle, fell under the vehicle but it was not until Mr Bannister got out of his vehicle 20 metres down the road that he realised he had struck someone.

Mrs Wadsworth, who was staying at the country hotel in Coniston Cold to see her daughter Rebecca Blacka get married, suffered fatal injuries. 

Ms Blacka was in the hotel reception at the time of the fatal collision at about 5.20pm on Feb 7, 2020.

Mr Bannister, of Mark House Lane, Bell Busk, near Skipton, had driven the vehicle around a turning circle outside reception and turned right when the Range Rover ran over Mrs Wadsworth on the walkway between the car park and reception area. 

A family statement following Mrs Wadsworth’s death described her as “a devoted wife, mother and grandmother”.

“Judith was a beautiful, selfless person and no words can express our sense of loss and devastation right now,” the statement said.

Ripon Conservatives president denies causing death of woman by careless driving

A hotel boss ran over and killed a woman in the grounds of his spa complex, a court heard. 

Nicholas Ayrton Bannister, 64, was driving his Range Rover out of a junction onto an access road near the hotel reception and car park when the vehicle struck 66-year-old Judith Wadsworth, who was a guest at the Coniston Hotel Country Estate & Spa in Skipton.

Mr Bannister, the hotel’s managing director and president of Skipton and Ripon Conservatives, turned right out of the junction and didn’t see Ms Wadsworth, a jury at Bradford Crown Court was told.

Prosecutor Michael Smith said Ms Wadsworth fell under the vehicle but it was not until Mr Bannister got out of his vehicle 20 metres down the road that he realised he had struck someone.

Ms Wadsworth, who was staying at the country hotel in Coniston Cold to see her daughter Rebecca Blacka get married, suffered fatal injuries. It’s believed she died at the scene.

Ms Blacka was in the hotel reception at the time of the fatal collision at about 5.20pm on Feb 7, 2020.

Mr Smith said: 

“Judith Wadsworth was attending the Coniston Hotel…to attend her daughter’s wedding.

“The party was in reception and people were bringing things into reception, and Mrs Wadsworth was bringing in items for her daughter from the car park into the reception.”

The trial was heard at Bradford Crown Court.

The trial was heard at Bradford Crown Court.

Mr Bannister, who runs the family business, was also in reception chatting to staff. CCTV showed Ms Wadsworth, who is also a grandmother, drop off a box and then go back out to the car park, ostensibly to collect more items from her car.

Mr Bannister then left the reception to get into his vehicle parked outside the hotel to drive to the spa complex. 

He drove the vehicle around a turning circle outside reception and turned right when the Range Rover ran over Ms Wadsworth on a walkway between the car park and the reception area. 

Mr Smith said:

“It’s the prosecution case that in the immediate aftermath of the collision, the defendant repeatedly said (to a witness), ‘I didn’t see her’.

“What’s at the heart of this case is whether the defendant was driving with due care and attention as he drove his Range Rover around his hotel complex.”

He said the fact that Mr Bannister didn’t see Ms Wadsworth “at all, even as he collided with her”, was “evidence that he was driving carelessly”.

Mr Smith added:

“The defence case is that…what happened was an unfortunate accident.

“At the heart of this case is…why the defendant didn’t see Mrs Wadsworth.”

Denies causing death by careless driving

Mr Bannister, of Mark House Lane, Bell Busk, near Skipton, denies causing death by careless driving. The prosecution must prove he was driving carelessly at the time of the collision.

He appeared yesterday for the first day of his trial which is expected to last four days.

Mr Smith said that at the junction of the turning circle and the access road, visibility to the left was obscured by a hotel building and Mr Bannister would also have had to pay attention to vehicles coming from the other direction.

But he said that motorists would also have to pay attention to pedestrians to the right, where he was turning and where Ms Wadsworth, from Baildon near Bradford, was crossing the road on her way back to reception. 

He said that after the Range Rover hit Mrs Wadsworth, Mr Bannister drove on for another 20 metres, only realising he had struck someone when he heard a “noise under the car”.

Natasha Hobson-Shaw, a hotel employee who was the only eye-witness to the collision, was driving out of the complex when she saw the fatal accident.

She said she was driving towards the Range Rover in the opposite direction and stopped her car to allow Mr Bannister to manoeuvre out of the junction.

Mr Smith said:

“As she stopped, she saw Mrs Wadsworth…cross the road and saw the defendant drive into her.

“It may be that Mrs Wadsworth assumed that the defendant was stopping for her as he approached that junction that he was turning out of.”

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He said that, according to Ms Hobson-Shaw, it was clear that after stopping his vehicle following the collision, Mr Bannister “simply had no clue what had happened”. 

Ms Hobson-Shaw got out of her vehicle to help Ms Wadsworth and Mr Bannister said to her: “I didn’t see her.”

Mr Smith said the Range Rover was travelling at about 9-to-12mph at the point of collision.

He said there was “some debris and a bag” at the scene of the collision which Mrs Wadsworth had been carrying.

The prosecuting barrister added:

“We say that the only reason (Mr Bannister) didn’t see her was because he wasn’t driving with due care and attention.”

A family statement following Mrs Wadsworth’s death described her as “a devoted wife, mother and grandmother”.

The statement said:

“Judith was a beautiful, selfless person and no words can express our sense of loss and devastation right now.”

The trial continues.   

Harrogate man jailed for wielding knife and spitting at police officer

A Harrogate man who spat at a police officer after being arrested for wielding a knife in the town centre has been jailed for 18 months.

Matthew Liam Tuck, 28, took out the blade during an argument with two men outside a pizza shop on Station Parade in the early hours of July 29.

He then walked towards one of the men while “waving and brandishing” what was thought to be a kitchen knife, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Jade Bucklow said another man intervened and Tuck was taken to ground. But then Tuck got back to his feet and, still brandishing the knife, lunged at one of the men, although he didn’t try to strike him with the blade.

Tuck then walked around the street holding the knife aloft and a hooded top, said Ms Bucklow.

She added:

“Shortly afterwards, police arrived and the defendant drops the knife and the hoodie in the street.”

Tuck was brought in for questioning but refused to answer police questions. He was kept in custody overnight.

The following day, he pressed the buzzer in his cell to get the attention of custody staff and an officer spoke to him through the cell door shutter as Tuck was becoming “agitated” and started hitting himself in the head. He then spat in the face of the officer through the cell hatch.

Ms Buckle said:

“Some of it landed in her mouth.”

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The officer was taken to hospital for blood tests for Hepatitis B. The prosecution said it was “unclear” whether this was a purely precautionary measure.

Tuck, of Bower Street, was charged with carrying a knife and assaulting an emergency worker. He admitted the offences and appeared for sentence via video link today after being remanded in custody.

Ms Buckley said the victim of the spitting incident said she felt “devastated, disgusted and dirty” after Tuck spat in her face. 

126 previous offences

Tuck, a sometime builder, had 49 previous convictions for 126 offences including violence. In November last year, he received a 16-week jail sentence for assaulting a police officer.

In that incident, Tuck, who was on a police “wanted” list, became “aggressive and verbally abusive” as officers approached him. He resisted arrest and kneed one of the officers in the crotch.

Defence barrister John Batchelor said Tuck’s recollection of the incidents in July were “sketchy” as he had taken Diazepam. 

He said that Tuck “lost his head” after his partner told him she had been assaulted. However, Tuck was “in no fit state” to aim his ire at the men he targeted outside the pizza parlour.

Recorder Mr T. Clayson said Tuck’s attack on the men in the street was born of “nothing” and described his spitting at the officer as “very offensive”.

He told Tuck: 

“This was bad and you know you have got to serve a prison sentence for it.”

He added, however, that the officer’s seeking treatment at hospital appeared to be preventative rather than due to an actual diagnosis of Hepatitis B.

The judge described Tuck’s criminal record as “appalling”, adding that it was “extremely sad to see a young man now leaving his formative years who (is) still getting into the sort of trouble which is pretty inexcusable for someone who is 28”.

Mr Clayson said the only way Took was going to turn his life around and stay out of trouble was by renouncing drugs and getting a job. 

Tuck will serve half of the 18-month jail sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.  

Ripon man jailed for two crazy police chases

A man high on cocaine rammed his car into a police vehicle, ripping off its registration plate, during a death-defying chase through Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon.

Craig Harper, 34, reversed his Vauxhall Astra into the police car, causing the two vehicles to become “wedged” together, York Crown Court heard.

He then stepped on the accelerator, moving the car back and forth, which caused the front of the police vehicle to lift up and its registration plate to fly off.

Prosecutor Beatrice Allsop said that Harper — who was 16 times over the specified limit for cocaine — was on bail at the time and banned from driving, having been arrested and charged with dangerous and drug-driving following a previous police chase on New Year’s Eve 2022.

That first chase occurred in the early hours of December 31 when two traffic officers on the A59 Harrogate Road in Knaresborough were radioed by a colleague telling them that a man in a VW Golf had failed to stop for officers in Harrogate.

They drove to the location in Bogs Lane and saw the Volkswagen driving towards them with its light off. Three males were inside the car which sped towards the A59 towards Knaresborough.

Harper went along Bogs Lane.

Harper took a roundabout on the A61 the wrong way then headed towards Ripley, South Stainley and Ripon.

Ms Allsop said the conditions were so wet there were “large areas of standing water” on the road. Harper lost control on one of these pools of water and veered across the centre white lines before careering off the road and “rebounding” back into the carriageway.

Undeterred, he stepped on the gas again, heading towards Ripon at speeds of up to 75mph while cutting corners, driving on the wrong side of the road, speeding round blind bends and at one stage narrowly avoiding an oncoming vehicle.

He then revved up to about 80mph in a restricted speed zone and overtook a line of cars near a bend as he bombed down the A61 and into Ripon.

He sped down Harrogate Road, a 30mph zone, at double the speed limit and into Ripon town centre, shooting through red lights and going the wrong way around a roundabout. He then sped down a one-way street near Ripon Cathedral, shot through red lights again and went down another one-way street in the wrong direction.

He then turned into North Street and sped out of the town and through a village where police tried to box him in.

Harper’s vehicle was brought to a stop next to a grass verge. Officers ran over to the vehicle, but Harper put up a struggle as they tried to restrain him.

He was arrested and taken into custody where a drug-drive test revealed he had a “shockingly high” 800mcg of cocaine per litre of blood, the specified limit being 50mcg.

Ms Allsop said the chase, through towns and villages including Masham, lasted over 20 minutes.

Back causing ‘mayhem’

Harper admitted dangerous and drug driving and was bailed and given an interim motoring ban, but on May 2 he was back out on the roads in a different car but causing the same “mayhem”.

Ms Allsop said two patrol officers in an unmarked police car in Leeds spotted him driving a Vauxhall Astra.

They followed the vehicle after Harper, who had a male passenger, turned onto Lady Pit Lane and then into St Francis Close, where he stopped the car and reversed “at speed” towards the police vehicle. The Astra collided with the front offside of the police car, causing it to “jolt and shake”.

Ms Allsop added:

“The Astra became wedged onto the front of the police vehicle.

“Officers shouted at him, telling him to turn the engine off. They could tell he was under the influence of (substances) as his eyes were glazed and vacant.

“He was trying to free the (Astra) from the police vehicle by going forward and into reverse. At one point, (the Astra) lifted the front end of the police vehicle.

“He managed to free the car by driving forward at speed, causing the wheels to spin. Part of the police registration plate flew off.”

Once free from the police vehicle, Harper turned right into a cul-de-sac and came to a dead end. He put the car into reverse again as officers caught up with him and rammed the Astra into the police vehicle.

The Astra again collided with the front offside of the police car. The officer got out of the vehicle and ran to the driver’s side of the Astra.

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Harper tried to escape but police smashed the driver’s window with a baton, opened the door and tried to drag him out, but the engine was still running and he was still trying to drive away.

They finally took him to ground after using reasonable force and cuffed Harper who refused a roadside breath test. He was taken into custody at a police station in Leeds and again refused to have a toxicology test.

Harper, of Holbeck Close, was charged with dangerous driving, causing over £1,600 of damage to the police vehicle, driving while disqualified and failing to provide a specimen for analysis. He admitted this second set of offences and appeared for sentence via video link yesterday after being remanded in custody.

61 previous convictions

The court heard he had 61 previous convictions for over 100 offences including driving while over the limit for drink and drugs, driving while disqualified and aggravated vehicle-taking. At the time of his latest offences, he was on a community order for assaulting an emergency worker.

Defence barrister Matthew Stewart said the father-of-three started abusing drugs after losing his job and was now on benefits.

Judge Simon Hickey told Harper he had caused “mayhem” on the county’s roads and described his criminal record as “shocking”.

Harper was jailed for two years and two months and slapped with a five-year driving ban.

 

Seb Mitchell trial: Murder accused stabbed victim after row

WARNING: The following report contains details which some people may find upsetting.

Harrogate knife victim Seb Mitchell was stabbed to death after a row over a broken mirror, a court has heard.

The incident occurred at a house in Harrogate where the two teenagers became embroiled in a row, a jury at Leeds Crown Court was told yesterday.

The boy accused of Seb’s murder, who can’t be named for legal reasons, stabbed Seb in the chest with a kitchen knife which led to a fatal loss of blood and cardiac arrest.

He appeared for the first day of his trial, expected to last six-to-seven-days, yesterday after pleading not guilty to murder. 

Three teenagers who witnessed the horrific incident in the early hours of February 19 this year went to Seb’s aid and called police and an ambulance as he lay barely conscious on a sofa.

Prosecutor Peter Moulson KC said a broken mirror and pane of glass in the kitchen appeared to be the “catalyst” for the fatal stabbing after the boys started arguing and scuffling. 

When police arrived, Seb, who was 17, was unresponsive and falling deeper into unconsciousness. Officers found blood stains in the kitchen, living room and a settee, and a red stain on one of the knives from the kitchen block. 

Seb was taken to Harrogate District Hospital by ambulance, but his condition was so critical he was transferred to Leeds General Infirmary where he underwent emergency surgery and was placed in a medically induced coma.

Despite the best efforts of doctors, he died two days later.

Police launched a murder investigation and spoke to two girls and a teenage boy who were at the house that night where drinks had been consumed.

The murder suspect, from Harrogate, was brought in for questioning but refused to answer police questions during three separate interviews. He also refused to provide blood and urine samples.

However, he did provide a prepared, legally assisted statement claiming initially that the stabbing was in self-defence and that Seb was the aggressor.

Grabbed knife during argument

The two girls told police that the defendant grabbed a knife from the kitchen and confronted Seb with it during the argument which led to scuffling.

One of the girls said the defendant pushed her away before grabbing the knife and “pointing it at Seb”.

She said:

“We were all trying to hold [the defendant] back.”

She said he seemed “fixated with the [victim]” and that the defendant told Seb: “I’m going to wet you up.”

Mr Moulson said the expression “wet you up” was “London slang” for a stabbing. 

Leeds Crown Court. Picture: the Stray Ferret.

Leeds Crown Court

She said she heard the defendant repeatedly saying to the victim: “I’m gonna kill you.”

She saw Seb and the defendant “on the floor, in the corner of the kitchen, with glass smashed around them”.

They ended up “face to face” while the others tried to pull them apart, but the teenager wielding the knife was “still not listening” and was pushing her away.

She said he pointed the knife towards Seb’s stomach. She tried to grab the knife from the defendant, but he told her: “Don’t touch my f****** knife.”

The two boys were still shouting at each other as the fight spilled over into the living room, but then Seb fell silent and was laid out, grasping his chest which was bleeding.

‘Fell on the knife’

The girl called 999 and was told by the teenage defendant to tell the ambulance operator that Seb had fallen onto the knife on the floor and that it was an accident. The two other teenage witnesses went along with this because they thought the defendant “could kill them” too. 

The girl, who was “too scared to say what actually happened”, told the call-handler: 

“Please be quick. He’s dying. Please. He’s 17. He’s going. He’s just about [breathing] but he’s going.”

In the 999 call – an audio recording of which was played to the jury – the defendant could be heard telling the girl to tell the operator that Seb “fell on the knife”.

Screaming, groans and desperate shouts of “Please, help” could be heard in the background.

The girl told the call-handler: 

“He fell on the floor. There was a knife on the floor. We all had a drink. We need an ambulance. He’s bleeding seriously. He’s not responding.”

A male voice can then be heard saying:

“We need [an ambulance] now or he’s gonna die. He’s unconscious; he’s not responding in the slightest. He’s breathing but he’s not there.”

The girl later told police that Seb was backing away from the defendant who was “getting a bit closer” with the knife and “getting louder and louder”. 

She said the defendant was acting “like he wanted to hurt all of us in there”, which was “very scary”.

The other girl said she saw the defendant “making jabbing motions” with the blade before stabbing Seb. 

She added:

“We were all trying to stop it.

“We were like, ‘You can’t do this, you can’t do this, it’s not worth it’.”

She said the defendant was “waving the knife around, putting the knife to [Seb’s] stomach, jabbing [the blade]”.

“That’s when I looked away and when I walked round the corner there was like a silence… with [the defendant] saying, ‘I’m going to wet you up, it doesn’t take much to put it in you.”

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She then heard her male friend shouting: “You actually just stabbed him.” 

She said Seb was “really drunk”.

The defendant and another teenager were giving Seb chest compressions in an attempt to revive him.

When police arrived, the defendant told them:

“It was me. I was scared. Really sorry. Everyone here are witnesses. I promise I was just trying to defend myself. You can arrest me. This wasn’t meant to happen.”

Mr Moulson said this was a key part of the prosecution evidence as the boy was no longer saying the victim fell on the knife and claiming it was an accident.

The male teenage witness told police that Seb, a black belt in karate who also played football, was the aggressor initially and that the stabbing was an accident. 

He said he saw the two boys wrestling in the kitchen following an argument about the broken glass and then the defendant grabbed a knife and told Seb he would “poke him”.

‘Didn’t intend to kill’

The defendant, who admitted manslaughter at a previous hearing, accepts that he deliberately stabbed Seb but denies murder. He claims he didn’t intend to kill or do really serious harm to the teenager. 

The prosecution now has to prove that he intended to kill or cause Seb really serious harm to prove murder.

Mohammed Nawaz KC, for the defendant, said:

“We do not say he acted in self-defence. We accept it was not responsible or proportionate for [the defendant] to pick up a knife in response to what was going on.”

He added, however, that it was the defence’s contention that it was not a deliberate stabbing with intent to kill Seb or cause him really serious harm. 

A paramedic who arrived at the scene at about 12.20am said that Seb’s clothes were covered in blood. He was laid on a sofa with a 3cm-long puncture wound to his chest.

The trial continues. 

Knaresborough man jailed for dangerous driving after high-speed police chase

A serial driving offender has been jailed for putting lives at risk during a high-speed police chase through Knaresborough.

Liam Edmondson, 26, a white-collar boxer, sped off when a traffic officer spotted him driving his VW Golf while using a hand-held mobile phone and tried to pull him over at traffic lights. 

But Edmonson ignored the flashing blue lights and sped off, prosecutor Rachael Landin told York Crown Court.

Edmondson drove at speeds of up to 90mph in restricted zones as he overtook vehicles, shot straight over junctions and at one stage drove on the wrong side of the road in midday traffic.

Eventually, following the chase along High Street and York Road, he abandoned the vehicle in a street of Kingfisher Road, ran off and jumped over a boundary fence in a residential garden into a neighbouring property. 

However, a neighbour’s ring doorbell provided video footage of Edmondson’s escape and he was identified by one of the pursuing officers.

Edmondson, of Pasture Crescent, Knaresborough, was charged with dangerous driving, using a hand-held mobile phone, driving while disqualified and without insurance. 

He ultimately admitted all the offences – albeit claiming he was driving at lesser speeds than alleged – and appeared for sentence yesterday.

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Ms Landin said that Edmondson, a fighter in Ultra White-Collar Boxing, had sped through 30mph and 40mph zones during the chase involving two police vehicles on March 3.

Edmonson had failed to slow down even at junctions as he sped and failed to give way to other vehicles as he drove on the wrong side of the road. He was driving so fast that a pursuing police car, travelling at over 90mph, lost sight of the Volkswagen as they approached a roundabout.

Ms Landin said:

“The defendant’s vehicle was found abandoned outside a property (near Kingfisher Road).”

Edmondson’s eight previous convictions comprised 16 offences including many driving matters and serious violence. They included failing to stop after an accident, driving without a licence and insurance, and careless driving.

In April he received a two-year community order for assault occasioning actual bodily harm after knocking a rugby player unconscious inside a bar in Harrogate.

The victim in that case was out drinking with his rugby mates when he was involved in a “heated discussion” with Edmondson in the men’s toilets. 

Edmondson, a self-employed labourer, struck him in the face and the victim was knocked out. The next thing the victim remembered was being woken by police officers while laid out on the floor. He suffered “severe” facial injuries.

Defence barrister Eleanor Durdy said that Edmondson, a father-of-one, had raised a lot of money for charity through his involvement with Ultra White-Collar Boxing. 

A representative for the charity boxing organisation provided a character reference attesting to the fact that Edmondson had trained very hard for his fights and raised money for cancer research.

Judge Sean Morris blasted Edmondson for his reckless driving which had put the lives of police officers and the general public at risk.

Mr Morris added:

“This was midday and there would have been children about.

“You were undertaking ridiculous driving manoeuvres. You could have killed a police officer and that is why dangerous-driving police chases are so very dangerous.” 

Edmondson was jailed for 11 months and given a 17-month driving ban.