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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Harrogate man jailed for Ripon burglary and ABH
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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Two arrested after man stabbed in Harrogate
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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