North Yorkshire Police has launched an appeal to find a man after a woman was assaulted in Harrogate.

Michael Craggs, 27, is wanted in connection with burglary and criminal damage as well as assault.

He has been recalled to prison and a warrant has been issued for his immediate arrest.

Police said the assault and criminal damage happened in Harrogate.

Officers said in a statement:

“He has links with a number of areas of West Yorkshire too, including Ilkley, Bradford and Otley, where he is wanted in connection with a burglary.”

Anyone with information about his current location is urged to call 101. If the sighting is immediate, call 999. Quote reference number 12240052245.

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A man who burgled a flat at the YMCA in Ripon and then launched a vicious attack on a woman while on bail has been jailed for 19 months.

Ryan Hopper, 21, broke into the man’s ground floor flat in Water Skellgate after smashing a window and then ransacked the property, York Crown Court heard.

He was arrested and released on bail, but within months attacked a named young woman with whom he had a beef, repeatedly punching and kicking her in the head in a park in Harrogate town centre.

He was arrested again and charged with burglary and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Hopper, from Harrogate but currently of no fixed address, ultimately pleaded guilty to both offences and appeared for sentence today via video link after being remanded in custody.

Prosecutor Brooke Morrison said that Hopper broke into the flat with a named teenager, knowing that the victim would be out as he was working a night shift.

They broke in just after midnight on February 16 last year by smashing the ground-floor window of the property and climbing through the void. After ransacking the flat and causing £221 damage, they left empty-handed and ran off.

Hopper was identified by the victim and staff from CCTV footage at the YMCA. He was brought into custody but exercised his right to silence and was bailed.

Kicked repeatedly in head

On May 14 of that year, a named woman and her male friend were drinking in a park in Harrogate town centre when they were approached by Hopper who “did not get along” with the woman.

Hopper, who had also been drinking, left to get some more alcohol from a local shop but returned 10 minutes later.

Ms Morrison said the woman “doesn’t recall fully” what happened next, “but she does recall that at some point after (Hopper) returned, she was on the floor while being repeatedly attacked by the defendant who was kicking her in the head repeatedly and punching her in the face multiple times”.

As he was attacking the woman, Hopper told her it was because he had been attacked by a “third party” a few weeks beforehand and he blamed her for getting him beat up.

A female witness saw Hopper’s vicious attack on the woman from her back garden and ran up to him telling to stop. She called police and an ambulance and Hopper was duly arrested in the park.

The victim, who suffered bruising to her jaw, eye and forehead, said she didn’t think Hopper would stop.

Following his arrest, Hopper was further charged with assaulting an emergency worker and making threats to kill for which he received an 18-week suspended prison sentence with an alcohol-treatment programme last summer.

14 previous offences

His criminal record comprised 14 previous offences including public disorder, affray, damaging property and carrying an offensive weapon.

Defence barrister Erin Kitson-Parker said the catalyst for Hopper’s offending was drugs and alcohol.

Judge Simon Hickey said it was clear that Hopper had attacked the woman in Harrogate over a “grudge”.

He criticised the defendant for ransacking the man’s flat, leaving it a mess. He added:

“You rifled through his belongings, his drawers were pulled out, his TV was knocked over and glass strewn everywhere from the shattered window.”

Hopper was given a 19-month jail sentence, of which he will serve half behind bars before being released on prison licence.

His co-accused, a youth at the time, received an eight-month suspended prison sentence and was ordered to pay £250 compensation to the burglary victim at a previous hearing.

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A man was stabbed in the Mayfield Grove area of Harrogate last night (May 12).

North Yorkshire Police said in a statement today it received reports that a man had suffered stab wounds just before 7.30pm last night.

The statement added:

“Officers attended and found a man had suffered an injury to his hand.

“A short time later two men were arrested in connection with the incident. A 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of robbery and a 32-year-old man was arrested for wounding with intent. Both currently remain in police custody.

“Following the incident, the victim received treatment in hospital for minor injuries.

Police reassured residents today by describing it as an “isolated incident”.

Superintendent Teresa Lam, senior commander for the Harrogate district, said:

“Thankfully incidents of this nature are extremely rare in Harrogate, and they will not be tolerated. An investigation is now underway to establish the full circumstances.

“I would like to stress that we are treating this as an isolated incident and do not believe that there is any ongoing wider threat to the general public.”

Mayfield Grove

However, it is not the first serious incident in the Mayfield Grove area in recent years.

Vitalijus Koreiva, 37, was jailed at Leeds Crown Court in 2022 for murdering Gracijus Balciauskas in a flat on the road.

In the previous year Daniel Ainsley was sentenced to 22 years in prison for murdering 48-year-old Mark Wolsey at a bedsit on the road.

Police urged anyone with information about the latest incident or doorbell footage to call them on 101 and quote incident number 12240083406 or to contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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A man has appeared in court charged with an alleged £200,000 business scam involving covid loans and accounting records.

David Allon, 44, from Knaresborough, appeared at York Magistrates Court yesterday when he pleaded not guilty to nine separate allegations regarding two businesses he was allegedly running between June 2020 and August 2023.

They include two allegations of fraud by false representation in June 2020 in relation to applications for a ‘bounce-back’ covid business loan involving the two named companies he was said to be running, and one count of removing property as a company winds up, between June and December 2020.

He is also charged with failing to comply with the provisions of a piece of legislation regarding the keeping of accounting records between October 2020 and August 2023 and failing to deliver up company books to a liquidator between 2020 and 2023.

Deputy district judge Natalie Wortley told Mr Allon that the allegations were too serious to be dealt with at the magistrates’ court and that the case would be sent to the Crown Court.

Mr Allon, of Arkendale Road, Staveley, will next appear for a plea-and-trial preparation hearing at York Crown Court on June 10. He was granted bail until then.

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A man wanted by police is believed to have been seen in Harrogate, police have said.

Lincolnshire Police said the last possible sighting of James Joseph Smyth was in Harrogate on May 1. He also has connections with Leeds.

Smyth, aged 57, absconded from the open prison North Sea Camp in Freiston, Boston, on Tuesday, April 30, following an agreed temporary release.

He is serving a sentence for grievous bodily harm and robbery.

Lincolnshire Police said in a statement:

“We are continuing enquiries in the Yorkshire area following this sighting and due to Smyth’s links with West Yorkshire.”

Officers described Smyth as white, 6ft,1ins tall, and of slim build. The statement added:

“He has long grey-brown hair (occasionally worn in a top knot), a long grey beard and moustache, and green eyes.  He has a scar on his nose and left eye lid.

“He also has a distinctive tattoo on his left wrist with the words ‘Daniel’ and ‘Tracey’, as well as a tattoo of a devil on his right shoulder.”

Members of the public are advised not to approach him but if you see him to call 101 or email force.control@lincs.police.uk quoting ‘incident 387 of 30 April’ in the subject line.

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A Harrogate businessman has narrowly avoided jail after breaking a man’s jaw with a single punch – apparently because the unsuspecting victim was wearing an orange hat.

Robert Darling, 27, who was unknown to the victim, sidled up to the man who was sat talking to friends outside a pub in Starbeck and struck him to the side of the face, knocking him to the ground.

Prosecutor Sam Roxborough told York Crown Court it was a split-second, “entirely unprovoked” attack for which there was still no explanation as there had been no animosity between the parties and they were strangers.

Tests in hospital showed that the victim had a broken jawbone. Doctors inserted bands into his jaw which meant the victim was unable to eat solid food.

The “bizarre” incident occurred outside the Prince of Wales pub in High Street at about 11.30pm on March 24 last year, just after Darling had been “play-fighting” with his mate.

“[The victim] was sat at a table outside the front of the Prince of Wales pub in Harrogate, speaking with friends,” said Mr Roxborough.

“As he was talking to his friends, the defendant punched him to the side of the face. That was entirely unprovoked and the (victim) did not see the punch coming as he was facing in the opposite direction.

“The impact knocked him off his seat and onto the floor. He felt immediate pain to the side of his face.”

After the man got back to his feet, Darling, from Killinghall, returned, shook his hand, hugged him and apologised, even offering him the chance “to punch him back”.

The victim, fearing further violence, promptly left the pub, reported the matter to police and gave them a description of his attacker.

An officer recognised Darling from CCTV footage of the attack as he had been involved in a “previous police incident”, although he had no previous convictions.

Darling, a self-employed electrician who ran his own business, was arrested and charged with wounding or inflicting grievous bodily harm. He admitted the offence and appeared for sentence today.

Mr Roxborough said the victim took himself to hospital three days after the attack after his jaw began to swell and he was unable to open his mouth. Tests showed he had a fracture to the side of his jaw and he was referred for consultation with a facial-surgery team.

Defence barrister Ian Hudson said that Darling, a married father-of-two, could offer “no explanation” for the “very unusual” incident.

Judge Simon Hickey told the defendant:

“The pub is well-known in Harrogate. There were lots of people milling around and other people walking in the street.

“CCTV footage shows you in a white shirt play-fighting with another friend in a black shirt. You both seem to exchange some words… and then you turn and face your unfortunate victim who is simply wearing an orange hat and dressed differently to you.”

Mr Hickey said it was hard to fathom why Darling would “walk several paces” up to a man he had never met before and “inflict one heavy blow to his face which knocks him off his chair and his feet”.

Notwithstanding the fact that Darling was “extremely drunk”, the only feasible explanation for the attack was that the victim was “dressed differently to you” and was conspicuous by his orange hat, added the judge.

However, Mr Hickey said he had also noted glowing character references which spoke of Darling as a hard-working man whose behaviour that day was out of character. He had no previous convictions and was the main breadwinner for his family.

He said it had been a “close-run thing”, but he had decided to give Darling a chance to stay out of jail.

Darling, of Heather Court, received an eight-month prison sentence, but this was suspended for 18 months. He was told he would have to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and complete 15 rehabilitation-activity days, along with a 120-day alcohol-monitoring programme.

He was ordered to pay the victim £2,500 compensation.

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