crime Archives - Page 29 of 68

Police issue CCTV image after assault in Harrogate shopping centre

North Yorkshire Police has today issued a CCTV image of a person that they want to speak to following an assault in Harrogate.

The incident, which occurred in the Victoria Shopping Centre, happened on Wednesday 21 June 2023 at approximately 12.30pm.

The suspects spat at one of the victims and removed the second victim’s glasses and then stamped on them.

Officers have now appealed to the public to get in touch if they recognise the person in the CCTV image.

A police statement added:

“Officers are now asking members of the public to get in touch if they recognise the person in the image as they believe they will have information that will help the investigation.

“Anyone with any information is asked to email Georgia.Ladly@northyorkshire.police.uk or call North Yorkshire Police on 101, and ask for Georgia Lady.

“If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Please quote reference number 12230114298 when passing on information.”

Ripon woman given suspended sentence for intentional strangulation

A woman has been given a suspended sentence for intentional strangulation and criminal damage in Harrogate.

Angela Freebury, 44, appeared before York Crown Court for sentencing yesterday (August 24).

She admitted strangling the named victim on Harewood Road in Harrogate on September 23 last year.

Ryan Donoghue, prosecuting, told the court that Freebury, who was intoxicated, had asked the victim for a cigarette but was refused.

The 44-year-old, whose address was given as Blossomgate, Ripon, then went back to her room and proceeded to be verbally aggressive from her window.

The victim began recording on her mobile phone, Mr Donoghue said.

He added:

“Twenty minutes later, the defendant returned downstairs.

“The complainant was recording. The defendant took it from her hand and threw it on the ground.”

Mr Donoghue said Freebury then took the victim by the throat with her left hand and compressed, which an eye witness said lasted for between five and 10 seconds.

The victim had to push Freebury in the chest to get her to let go, the prosecution added.

She was arrested, but offered no comment when questioned by police.

Mr Donoghue told the court that the attack was “sustained and repeated”.

The defence said Freebury had a “number of problems” that she is “quite clearly unable to deal with”.

Judge Sean Morris sentenced her to a 10 month prison sentence suspended for 18 months.

Freebury was also ordered to undertake 30 rehabilitation days.

Mother’s tribute to son, 18, who died in Harrogate district crash

A mother has paid tribute to her 18-year-old son who died in a car crash on the edge of the Harrogate district.

James Gomersall died in a collision on the B6265 near Score Ray Lane, between Whixley and Thorpe Underwood, on June 24.

Mr Gomersall, who was from Green Hammerton, was the front passenger in a blue Ford Focus when it collided with a silver Volkswagen Touran. He died at the scene.

Police issued a statement today in which Mr Gomersall’s mother described him as “truly amazing” and a caring brother to his four siblings.

She said:

“James was truly amazing in everything he did, he shone like the sun! He was so helpful around the house and would do anything for friends and neighbours and never expected anything in return.

“He leaves three brothers and a sister, two of whom have severe learning difficulties. He had so much care in him and so much patience. He was an amazing big brother; the best you could get, and they miss him so much.

“He loved animals; turtles, fish, cats and especially his dogs which he used to walk for miles, they too are missing him, waiting at the door for him to come home.”

She added:

“James had just got his first proper job and I was so proud of him but unfortunately, he never got the chance to start. There are so many things that James will never be able to experience; my beautiful boy taken far too soon at only 18.

“He was his dad’s right-hand man and he was my best friend, being without him is very painful and a piece of us all has died with him. Our family are devastated, and our hearts are truly broken, we will never be the same again.

“He is a ray of light in the dark, he is the rainbows in the sky, he is the warmth from the sun, he is everything, he was our world and so much more. He was just a brilliant man all round. They say God only takes the best.”

An inquest into Mr Gomersall’s death opened on July 12. It was adjourned for a full hearing at a later date.

North Yorkshire Police has reissued an appeal for any witnesses to the crash to come forward.

A force statement added:

“Police are urging anyone who saw the collision or either car involved prior to it to get in touch. They would also like to hear from anyone who may have relevant dashcam footage.

“Anyone with information is asked to email PC Julie Brown Julie.Brown@northyorkshire.police.uk or phone North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for Julie Brown.

“Please quote reference number 12230116638 when passing information.”

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

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.”

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.

Harrogate cocaine and cannabis ring jailed for 31 years

Four members of an organised crime group involved in county lines drug dealing in Harrogate and surrounding areas have been jailed for a total of 31 years.

Ermal Biba, 39 of Trafalgar Court, Harrogate, Allaman Tatariku, 26 of Chatsworth Grove, Harrogate, Klajid Lleshi, 23 of Kinloss Court, Barnet, and Adam Sarkowski, 41 of Wedderburn Close, Harrogate, appeared for sentencing at Leeds Crown Court this morning.

Their activities were uncovered by Operation Logic, a police investigation into the supply of cocaine and cannabis in Harrogate and Rochdale, Greater Manchester, which commenced in September 2021.

The operation led police to Ashfield Road, Harrogate on May 5, 2022. where suspects Biba, Tatariku and Lleshi were discovered.

After attempting to escape and assaulting officers, they were all arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to supply class A and class B drugs. Drugs and related items were seized along with cash and cannabis growing equipment.

A search of Sarkowski’s home resulted in mobile phones and sim cards being seized.

These revealed information about county lines, drug-dealing activity and vehicles used, as well as many messages with customers relating to purchasing drugs. Forensic tests on cash found at the property also revealed cocaine traces.

Evidence uncovered by Operation Logic also connected Biba, Lleshi and Woodley to a large-scale cannabis production facility at Sherwood Business Park, Queensway, Rochdale.

The site, uncovered by Greater Manchester Police, grew cannabis with a street value of £1,440,000.

In court this morning, Biba, who was described as the ring leader, was jailed for 13 years and six months.

Tatariku was jailed for seven years and one month and Lleshi was jailed for six years and three months.

Sarkowski was jailed for four years and seven months.

Biba, Tatariku, Lleshi and Sarkowski pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply class A and class B drugs.

A fifth man, Gavin Woodley, 45, of Fairfax Avenue in Harrogate, was given a suspended sentence in March after pleading guilty to allowing a premises to be used under the Misuse of Drugs act.

Speaking after sentencing at Leeds Crown Court, Sinead Brocken, detective constable at North Yorkshire Police, said:

“We are delighted to have put a stop to this organised crime group, headed by Biba, who were responsible for supplying cocaine and cannabis to Harrogate and the surrounding areas for a period spanning between 2019 to 2022.

“Drug rings such as this have a ruinous effect on our society leaving a trail of misery. These individuals acted out of pure selfishness, disregarding the damage caused by drugs to both our communities and those addicted to them.”

Police release CCTV image after burglary in Harrogate

Police have issued CCTV image of a person they would like to speak to after a burglary in Harrogate.

The incident happened at a house on Kirkham Grove in the Bilton area on July 14.

A person claiming to be carrying out maintenance on behalf of the landlord forced their way into the property.

North Yorkshire Police has appealed for the public’s help in identifying the person in the CCTV image.

A police statement added:

“Anyone who can help identify the person is asked to email chloe.winter-atkinson@northyorkshire.police.uk or call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and enter collar number 1820.

“If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

“Please quote reference number 12230131089 when passing on information.”

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.

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.

Polish prisoner jailed after absconding to UK to work in Harrogate hospital

A Polish prisoner who absconded from his homeland and used his criminal brother’s identity documents to land a job at Harrogate District Hospital has been jailed for nearly two years.

Przemyslaw Poltorak, 39, used his brother Lucas Poltorak’s Polish identity cards and driving licence to find work as a cleaner at the hospital, earning over £40,000 during his employment there, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Charlotte Noddings said Poltorak, from Harrogate, had a criminal record in Poland but the UK immigration authorities had not yet managed to ascertain the details.

According to Poltorak, his previous convictions were for fraud, theft, drug offences and robbery. He was sentenced to 11 years in jail in 2004 for a “range of offences” and had served seven years when he fled to the UK under a false identity while on day release in 2011.

Ms Noddings said if Poltorak were jailed by a UK court, the normal procedure would be deportation to his homeland “to answer whatever matters he has to answer for”.

Ms Noddings said:

“He was serving a prison sentence there, was on day release, and never returned to prison.

“He has no legal basis to be here.”

She added, however, that despite his record, if Poltorak had entered the UK under his own identity at the time in question, when the UK was still part of the European Union, he would have been able to get into the country without a hitch.

In fact, Poltorak, trying to disguise his criminal convictions in his own country, chose instead to use his brother’s identity documents to firstly get into the UK and then land a job at Harrogate District Hospital, where he worked without anyone suspecting a thing.

Poltorak admitted fraud in that between June 2013 and June 2023 he used another person’s ID documents to gain employment and thereby make a gain of £150,000 – his earnings at the hospital and a car-manufacturing company in Knaresborough.

He also admitted using identity documents in March 2023 to obtain a driving licence – which meant he was also driving on the UK’s roads illegally – and using those same documents to obtain employment.

Using brother’s identity

Poltorak, of Malham Drive, Harrogate, appeared for sentence yesterday (Thursday, August 3) after being remanded in custody.

Ms Noddings said Poltorak, who was using his brother’s name and identity, was arrested at Harrogate District Hospital.

Ms Noddings said:

“His brother Lucas Poltorak – the real Lucas Poltorak – is a sex offender in Poland who was arrested at Leeds/Bradford Airport and refused entry to the UK.”

On that same day in November 2022, immigration officials converged on Przemyslaw Poltorak’s home and arrested him. They seized a “driving document related to Lucas Poltorak”.

Ms Noddings said that a driving record in the name of Lucas Poltorak was created on March 9, 2020. Przemyslaw Poltorak had used his brother’s details on his application for a driving licence.

She added:

“Enquiries were made about how he obtained a job at Harrogate hospital.

“He made an application (for a job) in the name of Lucas Poltorak (and) provided a Polish identity card, a provisional driving licence and a utility bill in the name of Lucas Poltorak.”

Poltorak was paid £42,337 during his employment at the hospital.

However, further enquiries revealed that between 2013 and 2020, he had also been employed by a car-manufacturing firm in Knaresborough which he had secured by using the same false identity cards.

During his seven-year stint at the car company, he earned £111,631, said Ms Noddings.

Home Office officials reviewed his records and downloaded text messages from his phone which had been seized at the hospital. They showed that Poltorak had been passing himself off as his brother Lucas.

When the real Lucas Poltorak was identified, it transpired that Border Force officials had refused him entry to the UK when he landed at Leeds/Bradford Airport in November 2022.

Further scrutiny by immigration officials revealed that Lucas Poltorak had been granted the right to settle in the UK in June 2021 but was then refused re-entry a year later when his previous convictions were discovered.

‘Hard working man’

Kevin Blount, Przemyslaw Poltorak’s solicitor advocate, said his client had left prison in Poland on day release and used his brother’s identity cards to travel to the UK with his wife and children, but that in fact he could have done so legally when the country was part of the EU and borderless travel.

He said that Poltorak had since lived a “law-abiding life” in the UK, “save for the fact that it was in the wrong name”.

Mr Blount added:

“He used his brother’s (name) not to avoid British passport control, but to avoid Polish emigration authorities because he was due to return to serve the end of his sentence.”

He said that a European arrest warrant for Poltorak had still not been issued despite his detention and during the transition period when the UK was in the process of leaving the EU, he still had a right to work in this country “under his own name”.

Mr Blount said that Poltorak was a “hard working man” and even though he had lost his legal status in the UK, his family still had a right to live here.

Judge Simon Hickey said it appeared that Poltorak had fled Poland not just for a “better life for your family”, but also because he would have served a whole jail term for his previous offences in his homeland, whereas in the UK he would have been released at the halfway point.

He said that the “real seriousness of (Poltorak’s offences in the UK) was “working for that vast amount of time and concealing who you were”.

Poltorak received a 20-month jail sentence but will only serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence, although his deportation is still in the offing.

Police appeal after sexual assault in Harrogate

Police have appealed for witnesses after a sexual assault in Harrogate.

Officers said the incident happened at a pizza takeaway on lower Station Parade in Harrogate at 2.30am on Saturday, July 29.

A women was approached by a man who offered money for sex, tried to kiss her and then sexually assaulted her.

Police arrested a man in his 40s in relation to the allegation of sexual assault and he has been released on bail pending further enquiries.

In a statement, North Yorkshire Police said:

“We are requesting the public’s assistance to help establish the full circumstances surrounding the incident.

“Officers would particularly like to speak with two men who were not involved but were in the pizza shop at the time the assault took place.

“Anyone with information that could assist the investigation should email Michael.crawshaw@northyorkshire.police.uk

“You can also call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2, and ask for Michael Crawshaw.

“If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

“Please quote the North Yorkshire Police reference number 12230141013.”

Knaresborough man jailed for strangling former partner

A man who strangled and terrorised his former partner has been jailed for nearly two years.

Craig Moorey, 31, from Knaresborough, strangled the victim to the point where she was struggling to breathe, York Crown Court heard.

He handed himself in following the drunken attack – albeit only because he knew the named victim had called police – but after being quizzed about the assault he went back to her home and started banging on her windows, threatening to smash them in.

Prosecutor Andrew Finlay said the assault occurred during an argument at the victim’s home in Harrogate on October 16 last year.

The victim said he only stopped when she pushed him away. Moorey claimed he pushed her away and said he “briefly” strangled her after she threatened to stab him.

The prosecution accepted that the victim had threatened to stab him but did so while being subjected to vile verbal abuse from Moorey. It was also set against a background of violence and domestic abuse she had suffered at his hands.

Mr Finlay said that in the moments before the attack, the victim had asked Moorey to leave after returning home to find empty beer cans strewn around the room.

Moorey refused and aimed abuse at her. The argument spilled into the kitchen where he strangled her.

Mr Finlay added:

“The defendant grabbed her by the neck with both hands and grabbed her clothing.

“She pushed him away before phoning police.”

Moorey left the house and handed himself in a few days later but refused to answer police questions.

He was released under investigation but on November 9, while on a bail condition to stay away from the victim, he returned to her home and asked to be let in.

The victim, realising he was drunk, refused, but Moorey returned later that night and flew into a rage after looking inside the house to find she was with her former partner.

Mr Finlay said:

“The defendant was angered by this and banged and punched the windows while threatening to smash them and shouting at her former partner.”

The victim said she was afraid that Moorey would smash the windows because “he had done so before”.

She called police again, told Moorey she had done so, and he left. He was brought in for questioning and again refused to answer police questions.

Drink problem

Moorey, of Main Street, Scotton, was charged with offences including intentional strangulation, assault and threatening to damage property. He denied the allegations but ultimately admitted strangulation and threatening to damage property on the day of trial.

The allegations he denied were either dropped by the prosecution or allowed to lie on court file.

He appeared for sentence via video link on Friday (July 28) after being remanded in custody.

Mr Finlay said the former couple’s relationship ended a few years ago after the victim had suffered a catalogue of domestic abuse.

Moorey, a father-of-two, had nine previous offences on his record including damaging the victim’s property, sending offensive communications and breaching a restraining order. There had been previous violence against the victim.

Moorey’s defence counsel said that his client, a ground worker, had already spent about six months on custodial remand.

Judge Simon Hickey noted previous violence against the victim and that Moorey appeared to have a drink problem.

He added:

“This lady has spoken a number of times (in the past) of finding you in drink and cans of alcohol littered around the premises. That is your problem, I’m afraid, Mr Moorey. Drink is your downfall.”

Moorey was given a 22-month jail sentence and handed a 10-year restraining order to keep him away from the victim.

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Grabbed knife during argument

‘Fell on the knife’

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‘Didn’t intend to kill’

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Using brother’s identity

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‘Hard working man’

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Drink problem