A Harrogate guest house owner who played the role of “facilitator” in a half-a-million-pound cannabis racket has sacked her legal team as she pursues plans to appeal her conviction.

Yoko Banks, 74, rented out her properties to an Albanian drug gang for “industrial” cannabis production “in the expectation of significant profit”, Leeds Crown Court heard.

The pensioner, of Scargill Road, was jailed for three-and-a-half years in August last year after she admitted three counts of being concerned in the production of cannabis. 

Her six co-conspirators, Visar Sellaj, 33, Kujtim Brahaj, 50, Indrit Brahaj, 27, Bledar Elezaj, 36, Andi Kokaj, 23, and 31-year-old Erblin Elezaj, an illegal immigrant, were jailed for a combined 22 years for various offences including drug supply and production of skunk cannabis.

Banks, who owns properties across Harrogate, was back in court today to face financial confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

But they were postponed once again after the court heard she was still intent on appealing her conviction and wanted to leave her legal team in favour of another firm of solicitors.

Prosecutor Michael Bosomworth said there was also an issue with a statement provided by one of Banks’s co-defendants, the gang’s ringleader Sellaj, who claimed that some of the money in his bank account had been transferred to him by relatives in Albania. 

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He added, however, that the major sticking point involved Banks and her “complicated accounts and property empire”.

Mr Bosomworth said Banks was now claiming “she only understands Japanese” – although she spoke in English in the dock and appeared to understand everything that was put to her. 

Matters have been further complicated by Banks initially telling her legal team she didn’t wish to appeal, but then changing her mind.

She had pursued the appeal “notwithstanding she told (her solicitors) she wasn’t pursuing it” and was now in the process of transferring legal aid to a new team of solicitors.

If her legal aid application is granted, it would mean her costs being covered at least partly by public money.

Banks has “messed everyone around” for 18 months

Mr Bosomworth said there had been an issue between Banks and her present solicitors and she was “awaiting legal aid to be transferred”.

He said it was the Crown’s case that Banks had “messed everyone around for the last 18 months” and that the prosecution would “invite the court to consider the matter on the basis she is just not co-operating”. 

He added that any order made today in terms of benefit and confiscation amount would “inevitably” be challenged by Banks who, as things stood, did not have any legal representation.

Mr Bosomworth said it was incumbent on Banks to submit a statement to the court showing her assets and “what the issues are”, but she had not yet served one.

When Recorder Mr Baird asked Banks if she understood what had been said and that she must submit a statement, she said she did and that she had “messed up quite a lot” during the legal case.

At the previous hearing in January, the Crown said it was not yet in a position to make a financial confiscation ruling because Banks’s defence team needed more time to delve into her “complicated” accounts and extensive “property empire”.

Leeds Crown Court. Picture: the Stray Ferret.

Banks’s then defence counsel said that a forensic accountant had been instructed to scrutinise her accounts and the “considerable amount” of properties and other assets she owned. 

Mr Recorder Baird adjourned the confiscation proceedings until July 29. 

He said: 

“These are important matters for Mrs Banks. There’s a lot of money at stake here and I take the view that she should be legally represented.”

Banks was ‘facilitator’ in cannabis racket

At the sentence hearing in August 2021, the court heard that the “professional”, London-based gang had invested tens of thousands of pounds into three cannabis factories at Banks’s properties on Alexandra Road, Woodlands Road and Somerset Road near Harrogate town centre.

The criminals had even dug a trench outside the three-storey Edwardian villa on Alexandra Road through which they fed electricity cables to the house to power the “highly sophisticated” cultivation system and bypass the electricity grid.

Read More:

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Their plot finally unravelled when police were called to the five-bedroom villa on September 26, 2020, after reports of a “disturbance” in the street involving what appeared to be two rival gangs vying for the cannabis farm.

Banks had rented her properties to the Albanians through an “unidentified individual who goes by the name of Francesco”, who sub-let the houses to the gang’s ringleader Sellaj.

The total potential yield of the cannabis factories was valued at up to £456,000, not including previous harvests.

Although Banks was not involved in the cultivation, she had played a “facilitating” or advisory role in the plot and was constantly “pressing (the gang) be paid by them”.

Banks – who had previous convictions for health-and-safety offences through her work – was due to be paid at least £12,000 a month in rent for the three properties and was also receiving “high” deposits.  

A rare original poster from The Beatles’ famous 1963 concert at Harrogate’s Royal Hall has fetched £2,800 at an antiques auction.

The poster was given to the seller in the early 1980s as a gift by a colleague who had worked at the Royal Hall in the 1960s.

The concert on March 8 was during the height of Beatlemania and was the group’s first and only Harrogate gig. It has since become part of Harrogate folklore.

The poster was sold at Ryedale Auctioneers in Kirkbymoorside last week with fierce interest from bidders.

Auctioneer Angus Ashworth said:

“The provenance was good, and the poster was in good condition commensurate with its age. We knew there would be plenty of interest, and bidding was fierce.”

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• When legendary wrestlers Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks came to Harrogate

Last month the Stray Ferret visited the Royal Hall’s archives to look at a collection of bill posters from the 20th century.

Since opening as The Kursaal in 1903 it has welcomed some of the biggest names in entertainment, including The Beatles, Louis Armstrong and Little Richard.

Other huge names of the 20th century such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sir Ernest Shackleton also visited to perform lectures in Harrogate.

More than £200,000 has been raised for good causes across the Harrogate district thanks to a community lottery scheme.

The Local Lotto, run by Harrogate Borough Council, has passed the milestone this month after being established in 2018 as a way for groups to raise more funds.

For each £1 ticket bought, 60p goes to local charities, voluntary organisations and community groups. Meanwhile, players have the chance to win a £25,000 jackpot as well as smaller cash prizes each week.

Karen Weaver, strategic lead at Harrogate and District Community Action, said:

“The Local Lotto has been such a great success in supporting good causes across the Harrogate district, providing a regular monthly income and an easy way for local people to support local community action.

“There is also a vital and fruitful link with the Local Fund, with 10p from every ticket sale being donated directly and helping to ensure that it exists in perpetuity to provide grants to grass roots volunteers, community groups and charities.”

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• Charity Corner: the Starbeck charity that puts mental health at the forefront

A total of 112 groups have signed up to be part of the Local Lotto to generate additional funding.

Beneficiaries include Autism Angels, Woodfield Millennium Green, Horticap, the Harrogate branch of Parkinson’s UK, Harrogate Dramatic Society, Nidderdale and Pateley Bridge Men’s Shed, and other groups including Scouts, churches, sports clubs and more.

Cllr Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate Borough Council and voluntary and community sector chair, said:

“It’s an incredible achievement to raise more than £200,000 in less than four years for our voluntary and community sector across the Harrogate district, through the Local Lotto.

“These vital funds can sometimes be a lifeline for smaller community groups and I’d like to thank everyone for getting involved and signing up to play the Local Lotto.

“It’s never too late to take part, whether as an organisations or a participant, and I’d urge anyone to sign up online.”

Harrogate & Knaresborough Conservative MP Andrew Jones has told a constituent that he feels “anger” over partygate — but would not say whether he has submitted a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The long-awaited Sue Gray report was published last week and found that many of the parties in Downing Street “should not have been allowed to happen”.

The report included details of vomiting and parties lasting until 4am while the UK was under covid restrictions.

Following the publication of the report, a constituent wrote to Mr Jones. The MP responded in a letter on May 27 with his thoughts on the subject.

The constituent asked not to be named, but shared the letter with the Stray Ferret.

Mr Jones wrote:

“I understand the anger people feel. I feel it too. Most of all I feel intensely depressed that senior people in our political system have pretended, or somehow genuinely believed, that tables groaning with bottles of wine, as we have now seen pictured, were in some way allowed work practices.”

Mr Jones has previously been outspoken over partygate and said in the letter that his “anger is not going to lessen”.

Read more:

• Resign and higher fines: Harrogate district bereaved families react to PM’s lockdown party fine
• Harrogate district MP: ‘Time for Boris to get on with the job’

In January, the MP wrote to a different constituent to say if criminal actions were found then “consequences must flow from that”.

In April, the Prime Minister was given a fixed penalty notice for attending a birthday gathering on June 20, 2020. It made him the first Prime Minister to have been found to have broken the law while in office.

However, the letter suggests that Mr Jones now considers the case closed.

He wrote:

“My anger isn’t going to lessen and I am not going to forget this episode in the story of Covid-19. But I won’t be commenting again unless something substantially new comes to light having already responded to hundreds and hundreds of emails and letters on every aspect of this matter.”

The BBC has reported at least 20 Tory MPs have written to the 1922 committee of backbenchers with letters of no confidence in the Prime Minister.

Fifty-four letters are needed to trigger a leadership vote, but Mr Jones would not reveal if he has submitted one, writing:

“This is a matter that will remain between myself and the chair of the 1922 committee.”

The Stray Ferret has asked Mr Jones for his views following the publication of the Sue Gray report, but has not received a response.

A historic investment in Harrogate Convention Centre could require county council consent to go ahead should a devolution funding bid fail.

In what would be the biggest single spend by Harrogate Borough Council in its lifetime, the convention centre would undergo a £47 million revamp to create more space.

However, questions surround how exactly the authority will fund the project as the clock ticks down to April 2023 when the council is abolished.

‘Devolution negotiations under way’

Funding for the convention centre has formed part of a devolution deal for North Yorkshire, which has already been submitted to government.

The 140-page document, which has already been submitted to ministers, includes a request to “work with government to address the capital funding gap we have identified through our business case work to date”.

However, questions surround where the money would come from for the scheme should ministers not agree to the funding.

Read more:

• No final decision on HCC investment until 2022, says council
• Major redevelopment of Harrogate Convention Centre could start in October

Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, said there could be an opportunity to apply to the government’s levelling up fund.

He added that any investment by the borough council would also require joint county council consent as the authority is restricted to spending no more than £1 million on capital projects.

Cllr Les said:

“Negotiations about devolution for North Yorkshire and York are under way.

“We have made a strong case for more powers and funding in a number of areas, including the Harrogate Convention Centre.

“Discussions are still under way with government and we hope to know the final shape of the deal in July.

“If government does not choose to fund the HCC through a devolution deal, then there could be other funding routes, including the government’s Levelling-Up Fund.

“Harrogate Borough Council is still able to invest in the centre. If the investment was to be more than £1 million, there would need to be joint consent with the county council’s executive.”

Meanwhile, David Goode, chair of Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrats, said the £47 million investment should be paused.

He said:

“North Yorkshire needs to take stock of where the convention centre sits within its overall strategy and how they would like to manage and run it.

“The area as a whole would be worse off if it was closed.”

He suggested there might be a “lower cost” alternative to the £47 million refurbishment that could still result in the venue being “viable” for conferences and concerts.

Cllr Goode also suggested parts of the conference centre could be mothballed for periods of time to reduce costs.

Council silent on HCC

Harrogate Borough Council has so far remained silent over a major £47 million renovation of the town’s convention centre as negotiations continue over funding for the scheme.

The borough council has already spent £1.5 million on contracts for the redevelopment, which has yet to be approved.

Figures revealed by the Local Democracy Reporting Service in December 2021 showed that the council had awarded contracts to companies such as KPMG, Arcadis, and Cushman and Wakefield.

This included design and feasibility work, a first phase business case and an outline business case.

Due to fears of a potential loss of £14.9 million worth of events, the council this year decided to accelerate part of its plans for studio two at the centre.

This would see seminar rooms created to accommodate up to 1,200 people.

According to council reports, a contract award for the acceleration is due to be put before senior borough councillors in June.

Following approval of the acceleration of the project, a competitive tender process was opened with a potential start date for the work earmarked for October.

However, the wider project has yet to be given approval. A spokesperson for the borough council said previously that a decision was due this year on the wider scheme.

With just a few days to go before the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations begin, signs of the festivities are already appearing across the Harrogate district.

Harrogate corgi Mr Bingley has been posing in front of famous landmarks across the town ahead of the Queen’s platinum jubilee.

With corgis being the Queen’s favourite breed of dog, Mr Bingley’s owner, Molly Fetherston, thought it would be a “bit of fun” ahead of the upcoming weekend of celebrations.

The pictures show the 10-year-old dog outside Bettys tea rooms, by the Sun Colonnade in Valley Gardens, on the Stray, and near the Harrogate picture frame and Slingsby Gin shop.

Photograph: Rozalia Szatanik Photography

Photograph: Rozalia Szatanik Photography

Ms Fetherston said:

“Shockingly, he doesn’t mind dressing up, especially when he gets extra cuddles from people passing by!

“Almost every day when we go on walks, I’m stopped by at least one person telling me they don’t see many corgis or that their grandmother had one, but that they haven’t seen one in years.

“He’s almost like a little nostalgic furball and I love seeing the smiles on their faces. We all had so much fun and Mr Bingley loved all of the special attention from both shop owners and residents alike.”

Photograph: Rozalia Szatanik Photography

Read more:

• Harrogate district schools get in jubilee spirit
• Platinum Jubilee Harrogate district: What’s On

Meanwhile in Knaresborough, a group of knitters have been busy making bollard covers for the jubilee.

The bollards, on Market Place, are now adorned with colourful covers with toppers of the Queen, corgis and a crown or two.

The knitted covers were commissioned by Knaresborough Business Collective and made by a group of local knitters and crochet artists called KYM.

Photograph: Brian King

Photograph: Brian King

Pret a Manger has been criticised for opening a new shop in Harrogate that is currently inaccessible to wheelchair users.

Customers to the sandwich and coffee chain, which opened on Harrogate’s James Street on Friday, have to walk up two steps to enter.

Pret has said a permanent ramp cannot be fitted due “to the structure of the building”.

It added that a low-level bell has been fitted outside to alert staff to bring out a “purpose-designed portable ramp” when requested but it has not yet been delivered.

Local resident, Jeannine Fisher, contacted the Stray Ferret today after seeing a wheelchair user unable to get inside the shop. She said:

“It makes me very frustrated that we should exclude people from society.  It beggars belief that a multinational company, who must clearly be aware of the guidelines, have neglected to create inclusive access.

“With everything else that wheelchairs users have to navigate in the town it feels so unfair that they are unable to do simple things that others can do such as having a coffee with their friends.”

Harrogate charity Disability Action Yorkshire offers accessibility audits to help businesses do all they can to be fully accessible.

Chief executive Jackie Snape said:

“It is very disappointing that Pret had not consulted with disabled people, or a disability organisation, about accessibility to its new James Street outlet. We would be more than happy to speak with the local team as to what they can still do to aid disabled customers.

“We do note, however, that Pret has a digital accessibility policy on its website, it’s just a shame there isn’t a store accessibility policy to match!”

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A Pret spokesperson said:

“We know how it important it is for customers in wheelchairs to have easy access to our shop.

“Sadly, in Harrogate we’ve been unable to fit a permanent ramp due to the structure of the building and its listed status. That’s why we’ve had a bespoke portable ramp designed to give our customers step-free access into the shop.”

A new Harrogate based childrenswear brand is due to launch at the Great Yorkshire Show in July.  

The high-end country style clothing store will be online, but will also have stands at various country events and shows.

It plans to sell a variety of sustainable products, from tweed coats to hand-knitted cashmere boots.  

Eleanor Charles’ tweed range

Mum of two and former solicitor Katie Heptonstall started the plans for Eleanor Charles after the pandemic hit.  

After moving from London back to Harrogate when her father-in-law suffered a heart attack, Mrs Heptonstall and her husband chose to stay in the town after the birth of their children, Elle and Charlie, who the business is named after. 

She said:  

“I am really excited to bring together everything we have been working so hard on over the last few months and to bring Eleanor Charles to life at the Great Yorkshire Show. 

“It has been a complete change for me in my career, I have learnt so much over the last few months and I have enjoyed every second of it.” 

The shop will launch at the Great Yorkshire Show , which runs from Tuesday, July 12 to Friday, July 15, where the clothing stand will also have a sofa for breastfeeding, a baby changing area, a colouring table and a photo wall.

The Alice Hawthorn pub wins three regional awards for architecture 

The Alice Hawthorn pub in Nun Monkton has won three regional RIBA awards for Yorkshire, celebrating its architecture and sustainability.  

The hotel and pub won the regional Yorkshire award, the Yorkshire sustainability award and the Yorkshire client of the year award at the ceremony held in London.  

Twelve new guest bedrooms were recently designed by De Matos Ryan, with the aim of preventing the pub from closing.  

Since four local taverns closed down, The Alice Hawthorn is the only remaining pub in the village.  

The new timber frame buildings include the sheds, field barn, stables and tack room

De Matos Ryan director Angus Morrogh-Ryan said: 

“We are delighted that this project has been recognised by the RIBA Yorkshire jury in this way.  

“It has been an honour to collaborate with such a brilliant client and contractor team, and together ensure that this village pub will continue to sustainably service its community but also welcome visitors from afar.” 

The ensuite bedrooms were designed with sustainable elements including timber frame buildings, low energy lighting and a heat pump for hot water and heating. 

The Alice Hawthorn has now been shortlisted for the RIBA national awards, which will take place later this year.  

The club belonging to the Harrogate and district branch of the Royal Air Forces Association is to close after 56 years.

The local branch of the charity, which supports the RAF community, formed at a meeting in August 1945 at Harrogate YMCA.

Membership has dwindled in recent years and trustees felt they could no longer justify the expenditure required to retain the current three-storey building on Harrogate’s East Parade.

A special general meeting agreed to sell the club and donate the proceeds to the national RAFA charity.

A farewell party will be held on June 25 at the club. Members and their family and friends are welcome to drop in between noon and 10pm for a cup of tea, a light buffet and some comradeship.

Harrogate air cadets will also be in attendance during the afternoon.

Philip Crebbin, chairman of the branch, said the club was simply no longer viable.

He said the branch had 100 members but few of them visited the club often, particularly as the building wasn’t suitable for some older members.

But he said the branch would continue to operate and meet monthly at new premises.

Read more:

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• £41,000 given to 14 community groups in Harrogate district

History of the club

RAFA members in the early years met in several places in Harrogate, including the North Eastern Hotel and the Home Guard Club.

Towards the end of 1957 they moved to ‘The Rear Turret’ at the back of Albert Street, which was a rented cottage, and transformed it into headquarters.

Membership increased and eventually the thriving branch and club moved into its current premises, at 6 East Parade, in 1966.

Me Crebbin, a retired squadron leader, said:

“Although the club is closing, Harrogate’s RAFA branch will endure and will continue to undertake its charitable endeavours including welfare support and charity collections.

“The branch will also continue to provide representation at association conferences and parades as well as holding numerous activities, including its flagship annual events: the Battle of Britain commemorative parade at Stonefall Cemetery and the annual dinner.”

Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Cuts to fire service will cause ‘safety blackspot’

Harrogate with its many large and old hotels has the largest concentration of overnight accommodation in North Yorkshire. 

With only one fire engine at the first attendance the crew have little chance of saving lives, let alone commencing to fight a fire. 

These large rambling buildings are a tragedy waiting to happen with no turntable ladder at the first attendance. What has happened to the risk determining the attendance to all properties? 

The police and fire commissioner and the chief officer can quote their 26% of fires during the night hours but that is when these hotels are most full of guests and also most at risk and quoting 26% as a reason to reduce to one engine at night only means that Harrogate as a conference centre will not cause sensible companies to want to come here. It will become a safety blackspot.

Brian Hicks, Pateley Bridge

Sun Pavilion Grade-II listing welcomed

The Civic Society welcome the addition of the Sun Pavilion and Colonnade and hope that  additional funding may become available to restore the colonnade to its former glory – with glazed roofing and windows to the rear to provide a weather proof facility.

Of course, Valley Gardens are themselves Grade II as a listed Park and Garden.

Stuart Holland, Harrogate

Read more:

• Stray Views: Harrogate potholes ‘worse than Cairo’
• Stray Views: Harrogate Town FC should get a new stadium

New Harrogate Town stadium a good idea

I agree with Pat Marsh’s views on Harrogate Town. Good idea to speak to the council to see what could be done.

Although consultation with Harrogate Borough Council may be obsolete now, it may be necessary to consult with the new North Yorkshire Council I suppose.

Richard Blackshaw, Harrogate

Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.