Spike in catalytic converter thefts from flatbed vans near Ripon

Catalytic converters have been stolen from numerous flatbed vans along the A1(M) in recent weeks.

North Yorkshire Police has issued a warning to van drivers after numerous flatbed vans were targeted by thieves near Ripon.

Police have said over the past couple of weeks a number of flatbed, or tipper, vans have been had their catalytic converters or ignition barrels removed.

Vans parked in the Ripon A1 area in particular have been targeted.

PCSO Phil Wright, based in Harrogate, sent out a neighbourhood alert suggesting this spate of thefts is similar to those seen about six months to a year ago

PCSO Wright added:

“These vehicles are very sought after at the moment and despite security devices they have been taken.

“Please be vigilant with security of vehicles and if you have any information please contact 101.”

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£6,000 worth of antiques and collectables stolen from Ripon shop

Police are appealing for witnesses after £6,000 worth of antiques and collectables were stolen from a shop in Ripon.

Officers said a man forced entry into the shop on Kirkgate between 7pm and 7.30pm on February 11.

The suspect stole thousands of pounds worth of collectables, including coins and a watch.

He then returned to the shop at around 10pm and forced entry for second time before leaving with an old collectable air rifle.

North Yorkshire Police have urged anyone with any information to come forward if they recognised the items (pictured above) or have seen them for sale on social media.

A police statement added:

“Anyone with any information is asked to get in touch.

“Dial 101, press 2 and ask to speak to Mark Nursery, or email Mark.Nursey@northyorkshire.police.uk and quote reference number 12220024878.”

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Man jailed for dealing crack and heroin in Harrogate

A man has been jailed for 20 months for dealing crack cocaine and heroin in Harrogate.

Tyler Walton, 20, from Northallerton, was stopped by officers on January 18 this year in a vehicle on Parliament Street in Harrogate.

Officers found cash and a set of digital scales on Walton so arrested him for possession with intent to supply class A drugs.

Once in custody, officers found 14 wraps of crack cocaine and heroin in his mouth.

Walton appeared in court on Monday and pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cocaine and heroin. Yesterday, he was sentenced to 20 months in prison at York Crown Court.

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Constable George Frost from Harrogate’s Expedite Team, which tackles county lines drug dealing, said:

“Tyler Walton was actively involved in selling potentially lethal drugs to vulnerable users and preyed on them in order to further his own financial gain.

“I hope that our communities are reassured by the swift police action taken in this case. We will not accept this sort of activity on the streets of Harrogate and North Yorkshire.

“We are continuing our efforts every day to ensure that the vulnerable people who fall victim drug addiction are safeguarded and that the dealers who exploit them are targeted and prosecuted.

“Please can I take this opportunity to encourage members of the public who concerned about drug dealing activity and those affected by it to contact North Yorkshire Police or contact Crimestoppers.”

Ex-Harrogate hospital IT worker who downloaded 750,000 indecent images of children jailed again

Warning: some readers may find aspects of this article distressing

A former Harrogate hospital IT worker was labelled a danger to children as he was jailed yet again for downloading images of children.

Martin Richard Shepherd, 50, from Harrogate, was already under lifetime curbs on his internet use after being convicted of downloading three-quarters of a million indecent images of children in 2017.

But when police officers paid him an impromptu visit in September 2020, they found he had been deleting “vast” amounts of data on his computer, York Crown Court heard.

Analysis of his devices revealed that the computer buff had downloaded hundreds more images – including videos featuring child rape – while on prison licence and subject to a lifetime sexual-harm prevention order to stop him trawling the web for illicit material.

Shepherd, who had “curated” the images according to their levels of depravity, told officers he found “irresistible” the urge to view images of children being sexually abused.

He admitted possessing indecent images and appeared for sentence via video link on Thursday.

Jailed for five years in 2017

The court heard he was working as an IT expert at Harrogate District Hospital at the time of his original offences in 2016, when police found about 750,000 indecent images of children on his computer devices.

This led to a five-year jail sentence in 2017 for possessing and distributing indecent images, as well as two counts of voyeurism and computer misuse in relation to his work at the hospital.

Shepherd, described as a loner, served half of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence in July 2019.

In September 2020, police monitoring officers made an unannounced visit to his home in Harrogate and found he had been deleting a “vast amount” of data from an Android tablet, in breach of the sexual-harm prevention order. This resulted in a further two-year jail sentence in January last year for four breaches of the order.

However, no illegal images were found at the time and it was not until later that a further police investigation unearthed yet more images of children which Shepherd had stored on five memory sticks.

Deleting images

Prosecutor Jonathan Foy said that Shepherd, formerly of Chatsworth Grove, had started deleting the images – about 125 gigabytes in total – within six months of being released from prison. Mr Foy said:

“When interviewed, he admitted that as soon as he was released from custody, his temptation to (view) pornographic images of children was something he found irresistible.”

Analysis of the devices revealed that Shepherd had downloaded hundreds of indecent images of all levels of seriousness, including 148 photos and videos rated Category A – the worst kind of such material. They included images of girls aged between four and 11 years of age being raped by adult men. One of the children in the depraved movie clips was unconscious.

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Mr Foy said:

“He troubles himself not only to obtain (the indecent images), but to separately save them (on USB sticks), curate them (in terms of) highest quality”

There were a “large number” of young victims featured in the scenes.

Downloading indecent images since 2002

The court heard that Shepherd, who worked in the hospital’s IT department for 22 years, had been downloading indecent images of children since 2002, but his computer skills enabled him to encrypt the huge stash of material and avoid detection for 14 years.

In 2016, police cyber-crime detectives finally snared him and found that he had amassed about three-quarters of a million indecent images of children.

They found a “massive library collection” of images featuring the serious sexual abuse of “very young” children including 12-month-old babies and youngsters who had been drugged or plied with alcohol.

Shepherd had painstakingly catalogued the images in 22 encrypted volumes and used an “extremely-complex” system of passwords to hide them. He also distributed about 20 depraved videos on a paedophilic file-sharing site.

His previous conviction for voyeurism related to two young women whom he secretly filmed getting undressed and walking around naked at a property in Harrogate after setting up covert video equipment. Those offences occurred between 2005 and 2012.

The previous offence of computer misuse, or gaining unauthorised access to private computer files, occurred at Harrogate District Hospital where Shepherd, who was working in the IT department, had somehow “abstracted” photos from a family computer of a young girl in her underwear, bikini and school uniform.

Resigned from hospital in 2016

Ashleigh Metcalfe, mitigating, said Shepherd had been on custodial remand for over a year and had been working in Hull Prison’s upholstery department.

However, a probation report noted that since being forced to resign from his hospital job in 2016 following his arrest for the original offences, Shepherd had spent much of his time searching for indecent images of children.

Judge Simon Hickey said the discovery of even more indecent images “reinforced” his opinion that Shepherd was a dangerous offender “and that he will simply continue to reoffend”.

He said he had noted the “extremely young” ages of the children featuring in the sordid videos.

He told Shepherd:

“You admitted (to police) that you can’t stop yourself finding children of this age irresistible. You were downloading a vast amount of material. The children depicted are clearly vulnerable and visibly distressed.”

Shepherd, described as intelligent, was jailed for 12 months. He will be released from jail halfway through that sentence but will then have to serve an extended two-year period on prison licence.

Mr Hickey also added 10 new prohibitions to the sexual-harm prevention order for the protection of the public, namely young girls. Shepherd will remain on the sex-offenders’ register for life.

Calls for police in Bilton to tackle ‘yobs on bicycles’

There were calls last night for police to do more to tackle teenagers on bicycles in Bilton who residents say are causing havoc in the Harrogate suburb.

A meeting was held at Bilton Grange United Reform Church and residents asked questions to a panel that included PC Brendan Frith from NYP, Bilton Conservative councillors Matt Scott and Paul Haslam, Liberal Democrat councillor and Mayor of Harrogate,Trevor Chapman, and Julia Stack from Harrogate Borough Council’s safer communities team.

It was chaired by Reverend Alan Crump who invited questions from around 30 residents who were in attendance.

One resident said “something has to be done” about the groups of youths who congregate on bicycles after 10pm.

“On Bilton Lane in the dark these cyclists have no lights on or high vis jackets on, and they have given us the finger.

“Sooner or later someone will get killed.

“There are eight or nine yobs, and I’ve seen them trying car and front doors.

“Something has to be done. It’s dangerous.”

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PC Brendan Frith circulated a leaflet of crime statistics in the Woodfield area of Bilton. It said there had been 11 reports of arson and criminal damage in January 2022, compared with 2 in January 2021 and 5 in January 2020.

He said “a number of arrests” have been made recently linked to anti-social behaviour in Bilton.

He said:

“We are aware of anti-social behaviour problem of kids on bicycles. We think they are linked to trying doors [of cars and houses]. When we are about, we do deal with them”.

Last night’s meeting was the third to have taken place since September 2021. Police were praised by some residents for increasing their presence in Bilton and performing more arrests in recent months on suspected criminals.

The next meeting is set to take place in June.

Four released on bail after Jennyfields drugs raid

Four people have been released on bail after police seized a “large amount” of suspected class A and class B drugs in Jennyfields.

North Yorkshire Police arrested two men and two women on suspicion of possession with intent to supply drugs and handling stolen goods.

Officers executed a drugs warrant at a property on Newby Crescent in Jennyfields on Wednesday.

In a statement, the force said a “large amount” of suspected class A and class B drugs were seized alongside items officers believed to have been stolen.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police added:

“The officers executing the warrant were from the Expedite team, the operational support unit and the neighbourhood policing team.

“A large amount of suspected class A and class B drugs were located at the property alongside items believed to have been stolen.

“Two men and two women were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply class A and class B drugs and handling stolen goods. They have been released on bail while the investigation continues.”

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Man denies murder at flat on Harrogate’s Mayfield Grove

A man has denied murder following the death of a 41-year-old man in Harrogate.

Vitalijus Koreiva, 36, is accused of murdering Gracijus Balciauskas on December 20 last year. Mr Balciauskas’s body was found at a flat in Mayfield Grove at about 11.30pm.  

Koreiva, of Mayfield Grove, appeared at Leeds Crown Court via video link today when he pleaded not guilty to the allegation. 

A second murder suspect, 38-year-old Jaroslaw Rutowicz, of no fixed address, has yet to enter a plea to the charge. 

Judge Geoffrey Marson QC adjourned the case for a trial on June 20. It is expected to last 10 days. Koreiva and Rutowicz were remanded in custody.

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Police seize ‘substantial amount’ of drugs in Jennyfields

North Yorkshire Police seized a “substantial amount” of suspected class A and class B drugs in Jennyfields today.

The force said in a statement that officers executed a drug warrant at an unspecified address in the area and several people are currently in custody.

There has been an increased police presence in Jennyfields since this morning and NYP said officers will continue with patrols to offer reassurance to residents.

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Thief jailed after ramming BMW to steal £7k caravan in Masham

A prolific thief has been jailed for stealing a £7,000 caravan in Masham after ramming the owner’s BMW out of the way.

Aaron Drummond, 23, was in a Toyota bearing false plates which was smashed into the BMW to shunt it out of the way of the caravan parked in a yard on Leyburn Road in the town.

Drummond and another man got out of the Toyota and smashed the front windscreen to get to the handbrake which they released, prosecutor Brooke Morrison told York Crown Court.

The thieves tried to push the BMW away from the Sterling Cullen Europa caravan and when this didn’t work, they got back inside the Toyota and rammed the car out of the way.

Ms Morrison said:

“They then hitched the caravan to their own vehicle and drove from the scene.”

The owner, who was named in court, was driving past his property at about 9.15pm on September 19, 2020, when he saw his BMW parked at a “strange angle” in the yard. Upon closer inspection, he noticed the front window had been smashed and a dent to the vehicle. The caravan had disappeared.

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The theft was captured on CCTV and the Toyota and caravan were later spotted on Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras. Police identified Drummond from the footage and he was subsequently arrested.

Drummond – whose last known address was Sadberge Road, Stockton-on-Tees – refused to answer police questions but ultimately admitted stealing the caravan and damaging the BMW. He appeared for sentence via video link on Monday after being recalled to prison.

Breach of suspended sentences

Ms Morrison said the offences put Drummond in breach of two suspended prison sentences – one imposed in April 2020 for making off without payment and driving while disqualified, and another in May of that year for aggravated vehicle-taking and driving while disqualified again.

In November 2020, he was jailed for over two years at Teesside Crown Court for a plethora of offences including six burglaries, going equipped, dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle-taking, criminal damage and driving while disqualified.  

Drummond’s long criminal history included 18 previous convictions for 69 offences – 20 of them for theft and kindred.

Kelleigh Lodge, for Drummond, said the father-of-one had mental-health problems at the time of his crime spree and was taking unprescribed tablets.

Judge Deborah Sherwin said it was obvious there had been a “fair degree of planning” to the caravan raid and that Drummond and his cohort had driven from their home area to Masham on false plates.

Jailing Drummond for 18 months, she told him:

“You have offended over many years.”

Drummond will serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence. 

Police helicopter used after thieves force their way into Killinghall house

Thieves forced their way into a house in Killinghall on Sunday and stole jewellery and car keys.

Police confirmed today they were investigating a report of aggravated burglary in the village.

Aggravated burglary is used to describe a burglary in which it is believed some kind of weapon or violence was used.

A statement by North Yorkshire Police today said it was notified at 10.05pm and officers were at the scene at 10.13pm.

It added they immediately began searching the area assisted by the National Police Air Service, which provides helicopters to police forces in England and Wales.

Multiple social media posts on Sunday night questioned why a police helicopter was flying over Harrogate.

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The police statement added:

“A black Kia Sorento, which matched a description of a vehicle seen leaving the burgled property was located abandoned on a residential road, near to the Great Yorkshire Showground.”

Enquiries are ongoing. The statement said:

“Anyone with any information which could assist the investigation is asked to dial 101 and speak to force control room quoting reference 12220017438.”