Boy, 16, caught with 110 wraps of heroin and cocaine in Harrogate’s Library Gardens

A man from Bradford has been jailed for 30 months after pleading guilty to supplying Class A drugs in Harrogate’s Library Gardens.

Shaoib Shafiq, 20, and a 16-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons, were stopped on September 26, 2020, after reports of drug dealing.

The 16-year-old had 110 wraps of heroin and crack cocaine hidden in his underwear and Shafiq had a Nokia burner-style mobile phone with a pre-pay SIM card that was used as the drugs line.

The pair were sentenced at York Crown Court on Wednesday.

Shafiq was jailed for 30 months and the boy was handed a community order, unpaid work and a rehabilitation requirement.

Shafiq and the teenager travelled to Harrogate from Bradford together and were in regular contact several days before their arrest.

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PC Chris Dyson said:

“Drug dealing has a hugely damaging effect on communities and destroys lives.

“These two individuals thought they could come into North Yorkshire and deal Class A drugs, but we showed them different.

“We work hard to target those who insist on bringing misery to communities and we will not stop making sure those who commit this type of crime are brought to the courts.”

Knaresborough man jailed for ‘punishment beating’ of ex-partner

A father-of-three has been jailed for subjecting his partner to a vicious “punishment beating” in which she was dragged out of her home, thrown into his car and then driven to another address where she was yanked along the street.

Alan Bell, 47, erupted in a fit of drunken rage at the woman’s home in Knaresborough where he punched her repeatedly after discovering she had recently tried drugs, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Daniel Ingram said the couple, who had drunk three bottles of wine together, got into an argument on Christmas Day last year after the named victim told Bell she had recently taken cocaine because she had been feeling down.

Bell, who worked for Huttons Butchers in Castlegate, Knaresborough, reacted with fury and accused her of cheating on him with another man.

The victim started talking to this man on the phone, whereupon Bell “began hitting her, punched her on the head and dragged her off the settee onto the floor”.

He then threw a pair of Dr Martens boots at her, before dragging her outside to his van, telling her that if she wanted to see the man, he would drive her to his house. Mr Ingram said:

“She begged him to stop (but) he dragged her outside to the van and threw her into the passenger seat.

“He drove to the male’s address and dragged her out of the van. He (then) punched her to the face and pushed her over.”

Taken to hospital

The victim was dragged along the ground towards the unnamed man’s house and then “dragged back (again)”.

She said she “smashed her face on the floor” after being pushed to the ground and was then kicked to the body, but Bell denied this. Mr Ingram added:

“(Bell) then moved away, leaving her lying on the floor.

“She was helped by strangers who called police and she was taken to hospital.”

The victim, who had since separated from Bell, discharged herself from hospital before she could be seen by medical staff.

When she returned home, she found her plants pots, Christmas presents and a glass candle had been smashed, and drink had been “poured all over (the presents)”.

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Bell had gone into her house and damaged the items as part of a “revenge” attack which lasted into the early hours of Boxing Day.

The victim also alleged that in the first attack at her home, Bell had kicked her to the body and hit her over the head with a TV remote control and her own shoes.

Bell denied these allegations but admitted punching her in the face “four or five times” before throwing her Dr Martens at her and dragging her into his van.

Mr Ingram said the victim suffered “nasty” bruising to her arms, face and body, a black eye, cut forehead and an ear injury after her earring was ripped out. He added:

“She said she was sore all over and in pain for a long time afterwards.

“She said she felt the need to hide away from others as a result of the bruising and…that at the time she thought she might die.”

Bell, of Castle Yard, Knaresborough, was arrested and charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and damaging property.

He admitted both offences on the basis that he didn’t kick the victim or hit her with the TV remote. He appeared for sentence today after the prosecution accepted his plea.

Never been violent before

Peter Minnikin, for Bell, said his client had led an otherwise “blameless” life.

He added that Bell, who divorced from his ex-wife in 2016, had never been violent in previous relationships.

A character reference from his employer at Huttons Butchers, where he earned a good living, described Bell as a “hard-working man”.

Mr Minnikin said Bell met the victim in 2019 but their relationship became “toxic” and they were both drinking heavily.

Judge Sean Morris branded the attacks a “disgraceful incident”. He told Bell:

“This was a prolonged incident of degradation. You dragged (the victim) out of the van and dragged her back again in the street and she’s ended up with all these injuries.

“While she is out without any shoes on, looking for help, you are ripping all (her) Christmas presents and spoiling them with drink.

“It was a cowardly offence and you were inflicting punishment which you are not allowed to do.”

Mr Morris said the violence was “just too prolonged and too serious” for anything other than an immediate jail sentence. He added:

“I know that this is going to have an effect both on your employer and your family, but these kinds of domestic assaults have to be deterred so that people know what happens if they subject their partners, wives, girlfriends, to prolonged, humiliating punishment beatings.”

Bell was jailed for 10 months and given a five-year restraining order, which bans him contacting the victim or going to her house in Knaresborough.

Prolific Harrogate criminal jailed after hospital rampage

A violent “brute” and serial thief has been jailed for attacking nurses and police officers and running amok at Harrogate District Hospital.

Philip John Watson, 32, “kicked off” inside the hospital’s A&E department where he assaulted two nurses, threatened doctors, threw a blood-pressure machine to the floor and launched a fruit-and-veg crate at a receptionist, York Crown Court heard.

Watson was on bail at the time after being arrested for a series of violent offences and shop thefts, said prosecutor Brooke Morrison.

During the “disgraceful” incident at the hospital on February 26, he went into the A&E department where he was treated for an apparent drug overdose.

He was left to “sleep it off” but when nurses went to rouse him, he began shouting and swearing at them. He then ripped the cannula, a fluid tube, from the back of his hand and pushed one of the nurses in the chest before elbowing her colleague in the shoulder “to get (her) out of his way”.

He then threw a blood-pressure machine to the floor and flicked blood from the cannula around the room. Ms Morrison added:

“He (then) stormed through A&E, pushing trolleys and trying to flip over the equipment.”

When a doctor asked him to stop, Watson threatened him before marching into the hospital reception, “again dripping blood onto the floor”. Ms Morrison said:

“He sat in a wheelchair before going outside and returning to reception with a wooden fruit-and-veg crate.”

Watson threw the crate at the ceiling, causing cracks and holes in the plastering. He then went outside, grabbed another crate and threw it at the reception desk, causing the receptionist to duck out of the way.

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He was escorted out of reception by two staff members, but then started throwing pieces of meat at nurses in the ambulance bay and threatening the ambulance driver.

Police were called in but when officers tried to cuff him, Watson tried to run away, shouting, “You will not arrest me”.

Officers took him to ground and hauled him into the police van, but Watson started kicking the police cage and told a special constable he would “bite his face off”.

Claimed to have swallowed bags of heroin

On arrival at Harrogate Police Station, Watson claimed he had swallowed bags of heroin, forcing officers to take him back to hospital for checks. On the way there, he subjected the special constable to a torrent of “foul and racist” comments.

Watson, from Harrogate but of no fixed address, was on bail at the time following a string of offences including a previous incident at the hospital on May 20 last year, when he went into A&E – again in a drink and drug-induced state – and was placed in a cubicle “to sleep it off”.

When he woke, he tried to leave the hospital through the “wrong door” and went berserk, “grabbing and shaking” doors and walking into the resuscitation room.

A doctor called for assistance and two hospital porters escorted Watson back to the cubicle where he told the doctor he wanted to “put his hands around somebody’s neck and squeeze them until their heads pop”.

Such was Watson’s “aggressive and intimidatory” behaviour, hospital staff called police who arrived to arrest him.

That same month, Watson stole alcohol from Asda on Bower Road and after being arrested he headbutted a glass door at the police station, causing it to crack.

The following month, on bail again, he elbowed a police officer in the face, causing a small cut, after being stopped on suspicion of shoplifting in Bower Street. Two other officers tried to bring him under control him, but he ran away as they fired a Taser gun at him which missed.

He was finally arrested following a short chase, but it took three officers to restrain him.

Three months later, he was arrested again for handling stolen goods after he and another man stole about £150 of clothes from TK Max at the Victoria Shopping Centre.

In October, he stole from the Co-op and used a stolen bank card to buy cigarettes from Tesco.

In November, he stole razors worth £145 from Asda and was arrested again the following month after stealing hundreds of pounds’ worth of clothes from TK Max. On being arrested, he was found with heroin.

He was ultimately charged with a raft of offences including assaulting police officers and hospital staff, resisting a police constable, criminal damage, shop thefts, threatening behaviour, possessing a Class A drug and handling stolen goods.

He admitted all matters and appeared for sentence via video link today after being remanded in custody.

‘Enormous’ criminal record

The court heard that Watson had an “enormous” criminal record for offences including burglary, robbery, carrying knives, racially aggravated criminal damage, assaulting police officers and “beating people up”. All the offences were fuelled by drink and drugs.

His solicitor advocate Graham Parkin said Watson was “completely out of control” at the time of his latest series of offences.

Judge Sean Morris said Watson had behaved “like a brute” towards the doctors and nurses who were “trying to save people’s lives”.

He described his behaviour as “disgracefully violent”.

Watson was handed a 21-month jail sentence, but he won’t be spending too long in prison as he will only have to serve half of that behind bars and he had already served the equivalent of a 14-month sentence on remand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Knaresborough paedophile jailed for three years

A serial sex offender has been jailed for over three years for sexually assaulting an infant girl after “luring” her into an enclosed space.

Kenneth Stephen Fowler, 64, a drifter and heavily convicted paedophile from Knaresborough, assaulted and then performed a lewd act in front of the youngster, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Richard Herrmann said that Fowler had over 100 previous criminal convictions, of which 18 were child-sex offences.

Fowler’s last such conviction was almost 30 years ago, but on August 6 this year, when heavily drunk, he lured the young girl into a public enclosed space, put his arms around her and began touching her “excessively”.

He then tried to remove her clothing before taking off his own clothes to reveal an intimate part of his body. He then performed a lewd act in front of her.

Mr Herrmann said:

“(The victim) said he didn’t say anything (and that) she felt scared and she froze.”

She then moved “very quickly” away from the enclosed area, after which an adult witness saw Fowler buckling up his trousers.

Fowler told the witness, in an “aggressive manner”, that he was “about to set fire to the place”.

Matters were ultimately reported to police who searched Fowler’s flat in Knaresborough and found among his clothes a pair of girl’s knickers.

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Homeless drifter

Fowler, a homeless drifter, was arrested and charged with indecent exposure, sexual assault of a child under 13 and sexual activity in the presence of a child.

He initially denied the offences but ultimately admitted the latter two charges. The Crown ultimately quashed the exposure charge.

He appeared for sentence via video link today after being remanded in custody.

Mr Herrmann said Fowler’s wicked behaviour had caused “great distress” to the girl and her family.

The girl’s mother said her daughter had since had nightmares about Fowler and her horrifying experience:

“She has been very quiet since it happened (and) doesn’t want to talk about it anymore.”

Fowler, originally from Scotland, had 104 previous convictions for 223 offences dating back over 50 years. Eighteen of those were sexual offences, including many for indecently exposing himself in front of children.

In the 1980s, he was jailed on multiple occasions for indecent exposure with intent to sexually assault a female, and another offence of unlawful intercourse with an under-age girl. In one incident in 1988, he exposed himself to a 13-year-old girl and performed a lewd act in front of two young boys.

His last exposure offence was in 1994 but he continued to regularly appear before the courts for offences such as shoplifting and being drunk and disorderly.

Set Harrogate charity store on fire

In October 2019, he received a 16-month jail sentence at York Crown Court for arson and damaging property.

That offence, described as a “revenge” attack, occurred in August 2018 when he torched a charity clothes store for the homeless at the Wesley Centre in Harrogate run by Harrogate Homeless Project, which had helped him get back on his feet after years of living rough.

Fowler, who was again drunk and had some kind of “grudge” against the charity, also smashed a window with a hammer, causing nearly £1,500 damage.

The charity relied completely on donations such as clothes and the damage had resulted in severe disruption to the organisation.

Defence barrister Brian Russell said that after a 30-year gap in his sexual offending, Fowler had “for an inexplicable reason…suddenly reverted to entrenched behaviour which he had managed to avoid for almost (three decades)”.

‘Unhealthy interest in young girls’

Judge Simon Hickey told Fowler:

“At the age of 64, you are still interfering with children…and were touching again an extremely young child.

“While heavily intoxicated, you were to lure this child into the public (enclosed space). She was scared; she froze.”

He said the child was clearly “in very great distress” and told Fowler:

“I find you a worrying and dangerous individual.

“This has changed the little girl’s life and she even…stuffs toys under her bed (for fear of) someone like yourself being under (there).”

The judge said Fowler clearly had an “unhealthy interest in young girls”.

Fowler was jailed for three years and four months. He was told he must serve two-thirds of that sentence behind bars and would only be released when the Parole Board deemed it safe to do so.

Due to the judge’s finding of dangerousness, Fowler was told he would have to serve an extended three years on prison licence once he was released from jail, for the protection of young girls.

 

 

 

 

Ex-Harrogate guest house owner Yoko Banks given court ultimatum

Former Harrogate guest house owner Yoko Banks was told today she would not be allowed to change solicitors again after the latest attempt to recover any gains from her crime was adjourned.

Banks, 74, of Scargill Road, was jailed for three-and-a-half years in August 2021 for renting out her properties to an Albanian drug gang for “industrial” cannabis production “in the expectation of significant profit”.

She appeared at Leeds Crown Court today via a link from New Hall Prison in West Yorkshire for a confiscation hearing.

It was the latest in a series of attempts to recover any financial gain under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

A previous hearing in May was postponed when the court heard Banks intended to appeal her conviction and wanted to leave her legal team in favour of another firm of solicitors.

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

The court heard today she intended to change solicitors again but Judge Christopher Batty told her there was “absolutely no way” he would permit this.

He told her she either had to stick with current solicitor Sian Barber or “deal with it by yourself”.

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Ms Barber said she had spoken with Banks, who has been granted legal aid, for the first time this morning and had 600 pages of notes to go through.

She added she was due to meet Banks again next month and therefore requested an adjournment.

In adjourning the case until November 4, Judge Batty said it had been a “wretched hearing”.

Michael Bosomworth, prosecuting, said:

“Her case has been dreadfully complicated. Frankly, she has messed everyone around for months.”

London gang

Banks was sentenced in August 2021, after the court heard that a London gang had invested tens of thousands of pounds into three cannabis factories at Banks’ 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.

Their plot 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.

Couple jailed after Bower Road brothel reveals modern slavery in Harrogate

A married couple were jailed today for sexually exploiting seven vulnerable women in what amounted to modern day slavery in Harrogate.

Fabiani Alvez De Souza, 42, and Gareth Derby, 53, were both sentenced to five years’ imprisonment at Leeds Crown Court, having been found guilty following a two-week trial in December.

De Souza was charged with eight offences contrary to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 of controlling prostitution for gain, along with seven offences contrary to the Modern Slavery Act 2015 for arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation.

Derby faced two charges in relation to controlling prostitution for gain and arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation.

Both these offences involved the same woman who was the first to work as a sex worker in the rented flat in Harrogate.

They were handed slavery and trafficking orders that will last for 10 years following their release from prison.

The seven victims involved in the case are from Brazil, Portugal and Spain and aged between 26 and 60.

The convictions followed a four-year investigation by North Yorkshire Police’s Organised Crime Unit.

Harrogate sex workers

In January 2017, North Yorkshire Police launched Operation Oasis, which involved police officers conducting harm reduction visits to identify and support vulnerable sex workers in North Yorkshire.

Between October 2017 and May 2018, officers attended the same location on Bower Road, Harrogate, on six separate occasions during which they spoke to five women who were sex workers.

After the third visit in December 2017, it became clear that a brothel was being operated from the flat and that another woman was facilitating the travel of the women working at the premise to the UK and that she was also involved in the management of their activities.

These concerns were passed to Detective Inspector Fionna McEwan in North Yorkshire Police’s Organised Crime Unit. Her team began an in-depth investigation led by the officer in the case, Detective Constable Leah Kitchen.

It was established that De Souza was the person who was renting the flat on Bower Road in Harrogate and that she had created, posted and paid for the adverts on an adult website under “Escorts and Massages” in Yorkshire and the Humber with a partial Harrogate post code.

At the same time, she also paid for similar adverts in the South Wooton/PE30 area which related to another rented address on Nelson Street in Kings Lynn.

Rented flats in Harrogate and Norfolk

The investigators were able to establish a pattern of activity of De Souza or Derby paying for flights from locations such as Lisbon, Amsterdam and Brussels to Manchester and Stansted airports, as well as train and road travel within the UK including from these airports to the rented flats in Harrogate and Kings Lynn.

The first time this occurred, on 27 September 2017, is a perfect illustration of how the pair, from Upwell in Norfolk, operated their illegal enterprise.

Evidence showed that De Souza and Derby had travelled from their home address to Manchester Airport that evening in Derby’s work van.

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They collected a woman who had flown in from Amsterdam and they drove her to the flat in Harrogate.

At 6.28am the next day, financial enquiries confirmed that an advert was uploaded to an adult website paid for by De Souza.

Evidence again confirmed that De Souza and Derby left Harrogate to return to Kings Lynn shortly after the advert went live.

Cash deposits

Between 30 September and 13 October 2017, three cash deposits were made in Harrogate to De Souza’s bank account of £163, £600 and £1,045.

During this period neither De Souza nor Derby were in Harrogate.

When the first harm reduction visit at the flat was carried out by North Yorkshire Police on 8 October 2017, officers were able to establish that it was the same woman who had been collected from Manchester Airport by De Souza and Derby.

 

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De Souza and Derby clearing the flat out in Harrogate.

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The investigation showed that De Souza was controlling this woman’s activities. Between 25 and 30 October, two further cash deposits were made into De Souza’s bank account in Harrogate of £500 and £600 respectively, again during this period De Souza and Derby were in Norfolk.

Financial records showed that De Souza then paid £70.98 for an EasyJet flight for the same woman who flew from London Stansted to Amsterdam on 29 October.

On 8 August 2018, North Yorkshire Police and Norfolk Constabulary attended the couple’s then home address at Walpole St Andrew. Upon entering the property officers found one woman who had previously been encountered at the Harrogate flat.

Officers then had to force their way into the garage which had been converted into a small flat where they found another woman who was involved in prostitution.

De Souza was arrested and taken into custody for questioning. Derby was working out of the country at that time but was arrested on his return.

A detailed financial examination showed that the couple had spent several thousands of pounds setting up the business, including paying for the adult website adverts and travel and accommodation for the woman who worked as prostitutes.

However, cash deposits totalling more than £40,000 were found to have been paid into their bank accounts during this six-month period.

‘Controlling prostitution for gain’

Detective Constable Leah Kitchen, of the Organised Crime Unit, said:

“De Souza claimed throughout the investigation that she was just helping friends of hers who were working as prostitutes, while Derby repeatedly told the police that he was unaware of what was going on.

“The truth of the matter is that they, together, were operating an illegal business involving human trafficking and controlling prostitution for gain.

“Among the considerable evidence we were able to recover were WhatsApp messages in which De Souza refers to herself as ‘the boss’.

“Tellingly, WhatsApp messages from De Souza to Derby in June 2017 included the following:

‘Let me tell you something…the first month was an experience, but there are still a lot of adjustments to make so we can actually make money.

‘At this point we have more than 10 women interested in working for us, but we need to have other conditions for our business to work. Try to find another apartment…or we’ll both try to find to make our business more profitable.’

“It is clear from these messages alone that they were determined to expand their business. They had invested thousands of pounds, but they had profited by more than £40,000 during this six-month period.

“This considerable sum of cash was gained through the exploitation of seven vulnerable women in what amounted to modern day slavery.

“I’m very proud that North Yorkshire Police, with assistance from Norfolk Constabulary, have rooted out this activity and brought the offenders to justice.”

DC Kitchen added:

“This is an important case as it is a victimless prosecution for a human trafficking and controlling prostitution investigation, which is unusual and more difficult to progress to court.

“It has also shown the importance of a safeguarding approach to policing, because if it wasn’t for the sex worker harm reduction visits carried out in Harrogate under Operation Oasis, this fledgling international sex trafficking business may have grown significantly without coming to the attention of the police.”

 

Jail for drug dealers who boasted of Harrogate street earnings

Two drug dealers who bragged they were making so much money they would soon need a “counting machine” have been jailed for a combined four years.

Notorious thug Sirus Alexander, 21, and Robert Varela, 26, immersed themselves in the “dark world” of the Harrogate narcotics trade in which money and hard drugs were so easy to come by that they treated four-figure profits as “minor” financial gains, York Crown Court heard.

They were finally caught thanks to eagle-eyed security staff and Harrogate Borough Council’s CCTV operators who spotted them engaging in a shady transaction in a red Audi with two “unknown men” behind an Early Learning Centre in the town centre, said prosecutor Michael Cahill.

Alexander and Varela scuttled off to a nearby Travelodge where they stashed over 60 wraps of heroin and cocaine in their room.

Police turned up at the hotel just after midnight, but Alexander and Varela had vanished.

A search of the room revealed a major cocaine and heroin stash worth about £2,575 — as well as a machete and digital weighing scales.

At about 4am the following morning, police received another call from CCTV operators who spotted the pair going into Asda in the town centre.

Officers swooped on the supermarket and arrested the two men. Varela was found with a large hunting knife in his jacket and about £300 cash. Alexander threw his mobile phone underneath a car just before his arrest.

Varela, formerly of Harrogate but lately of Bradford, and Alexander, from Elland, each admitted two counts of supplying a Class A drug with intent to supply. Varela also admitted carrying a blade.

£1,200 for cocaine a ‘minor’ amount

They appeared for sentence on Tuesday but only Varela was in the dock. Alexander appeared via video link from Hull Prison where he is currently serving a 10-year jail sentence for robbery and wounding following a stabbing incident in Harrogate just two months after he was arrested for the drug offences.

Mr Cahill said that security guards at the Early Learning Centre spotted the pair and the two unidentified men on the afternoon of April 23, 2019 in what was patently a drug transaction.

Alexander’s phone showed he had been dealing since 2017. It appeared that Varela had only been dealing in the days before his arrest.

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In one of the messages on their phones, they bragged that £1,200 – the “going rate” for an ounce of cocaine” – was a “minor” amount and that “we can smash this thing and that 46 (drug wraps) went in one hour”.

In another exchange, they boasted that they were “making so much money we are (going to) need a counting machine”.

Laced drink with bleach

Both men had previous convictions but it was Alexander whose criminal record was the most “worrying”.

He had previous convictions for violence, possessing a knife, racially aggravated harassment and vehicle theft, and one for administering poison in 2016, when he laced someone’s drink with bleach.

By far the most serious of his 26 previous offences was the incident in June 2019 when he robbed three men at knifepoint in Harrogate town centre while wearing a skull mask.

Alexander stabbed two of the victims in the thigh with a carving knife after ambushing them in Harrogate town centre. He told the “terrified” men they were “going to die” and ordered them to empty their pockets.

Alexander, who was a heavy cocaine user and fan of violent video games, was jailed for 10 years and nine months in February 2020 after he admitted two counts of robbery and two of wounding with intent.

The victims had been making their way home from a night out when Alexander pounced near the Asda store on the corner of Mayfield Grove and Strawberry Dale.

He took some cash, tobacco and a rucksack containing items including a mobile phone after slashing out with the large kitchen knife. The victims suffered “gaping” wounds and deep psychological harm.

Branded with hot knife

Harry Crowson, for Alexander, said his client still had another three years to serve of the 10-year jail sentence for the robberies.

He said that Alexander, who had spent his entire childhood in care, had been exploited by county lines drug bosses following a traumatic upbringing.

Christopher Haddock, for Varela, said his client had started dealing to feed his “expensive” drug habit and pay off debts to his suppliers.

He said that in October last year, Varela was hospitalised after his drug overlords “branded” him with a hot knife. Varela refused to disclose the identity of these men.

Judge Simon Hickey told the defendants:

“You know dealing in Class A drugs on our streets brings misery, degradation and death. You were both effectively street dealers in the middle of Harrogate.”

Alexander, of The Grove, Idle, was jailed for two years. He will serve half of that sentence behind bars, consecutive to the jail term he is already serving.

Varela, of Huddersfield Road, Elland, was jailed for two years and three months.

 

 

 

Man jailed for biting Harrogate police officer and spitting at another

A prolific offender who bit a Harrogate police officer and spat at another during the covid pandemic has been jailed for over a year.

Police were called to Sainsbury’s supermarket on Wetherby Road after Mark Murtagh, 34, attacked a security guard, York Crown Court heard.

The security man had been following Murtagh around the aisles, sensing he was up to no good, said prosecutor Muneeb Akram.

Murtagh suddenly turned round, asked the guard why he was following him and aimed a volley of vile racial abuse at him.

The security officer brought out his phone and tried to call police, but Murtagh knocked it out of his hand, sending it flying across a shopping aisle.

Coughed on police officer

A staff manager called police who quickly arrived to arrest Murtagh, who had no intention of going quietly.

As he tried to resist arrest, he shouted abuse at the two officers, telling them to “take these cuffs off” and “hand over your jacket”. Mr Akram said:

“(Murtagh) said he had covid and coughed directly at (the named female officer), causing spit to land on her.

“He’s restrained to the floor by officers (but) tries to resist and attempts to get back up with his legs by swinging them around.”

As Murtagh attempted to “push himself away” along the floor using his arms, he tried to bite the male traffic constable’s leg.

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The named officer managed to push Murtagh’s face away but as he did so, he was bitten on the wrist, causing puncture wounds which drew blood.

The officer finally brought Murtagh under control by spraying CS gas in his face and he was taken into custody.

The officer was said to have suffered psychological harm following the incident at about 5pm on September 10 last year.

Murtagh, of Findon Terrace, Bradford, was charged with two counts of assaulting an emergency worker, one count of resisting arrest and racially aggravated assault on the security guard.

He admitted the offences on the day his trial was due to be held and appeared for sentence via video link on Wednesday.

26 previous convictions

Mr Akram said Murtagh had 26 previous convictions for 42 offences including violence, resisting police officers, drink-fuelled disorderly behaviour, drugs matters, theft and handling stolen goods.

Vincent Blake-Barnard, for Murtagh, said the father-of-one’s violent behaviour in the supermarket was “born of frustration” due to problems he had at the time.

But judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, branded his behaviour “disgraceful”.

He slammed Murtagh for violently resisting two officers “doing a tough job, serving the public”.

Jailing Murtagh for 14 months, the judge told him:

“This was a lengthy and distressing arrest. Police officers are entitled to perform their duties without being assaulted.”

Murtagh will serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on parole.

Harrogate man jailed for sex assault on toddler

A Harrogate child abuser and online groomer has been sentenced to six years and 11 months in jail.

Wenxiong Jiang, 26, was also made subject to a 20-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will remain on the Register of Sex Offenders indefinitely.

Jiang was convicted at York Crown Court on Friday of the following offences that he committed between February 2017 and December 2020:

Detective Constable Rebecca Townsend, of Harrogate CID, led the intensive investigation into Jiang’s offending following his arrest on December 15, 2020.

Posed as 15-year-old boy

The inquiry uncovered that he had added a 12-year-old girl on Snapchat and engaged her in conversations while he was posing as a 15-year-old boy.

Jiang pressured and then eventually threatened the girl to send him naked pictures of herself engaging in penetrative sexual activity.

When he was arrested, officers recovered 250,000 images from his devices including a video of himself sexually assaulting a two-year-old boy.

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The Digital Forensic Unit examined all the material to help identify offences and possible victims.

DC Townsend said:

“Wenxiong Jiang is clearly a very disturbed and perverted individual who poses a danger to children.

“He has rightfully been brought to justice and is now facing the full consequences of his depravity with a significant prison sentence.

“As a registered sex offender, he is subject to robust public protection measures for the rest of his life. He will also have to comply with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order lasting 20 years which is designed to severely limit his ability to reoffend in the future.”

Reporting suspected crimes involving indecent images of children and sexual abuse

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Victims who would prefer not to go direct to the police and are not in immediate danger, can contact Bridge House, North Yorkshire’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC), on 0330 223 0362, email bridgehouse.sarc@nhs.net or go to www.bridgehousesarc.org/

Harrogate addict jailed after stamping on head of ‘defenceless’ victim

A mature student has been jailed after repeatedly kicking and stamping on the head of a man at his home in Harrogate, knocking him unconscious and breaking his jaw.

Matthew Childs, 39, a heroin addict and heavy drinker, kicked and stamped on the victim about 12 times, York Crown Court heard.

The victim was just leaving his friend’s flat when he bumped into Childs and told him: “Mind where you’re going, mate.”

This enraged Childs, who followed the victim to his home in Grove Avenue a short distance away, said prosecutor Gareth Henderson-Moore.

When the victim reached his front door and was about to put his key in the lock, Childs attacked him from behind and pushed him across the threshold.

The victim tripped over a step and fell to the ground in the communal hallway whereupon Childs began kicking and stamping on his head and body “repeatedly”.

Fractured jaw

A neighbour came to the aid of the unconscious victim and an ambulance was called. He was taken to hospital with a fractured jaw, multiple bruises to his head and body, extremely sore ribs and black eyes.

He discharged himself from hospital because it was the height of the covid pandemic and “he thought others would need hospital more than him, and he wasn’t thinking straight”.

Childs, of Dalby Avenue, Harrogate, was arrested and admitted causing grievous bodily harm. He appeared for sentence on Wednesday.

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Mr Henderson-Moore said the victim had been drinking at a friend’s house just before the attack at about 10pm in June last year.

The victim, who only had a passing acquaintance with Childs, said:

“I was laid on my back and without warning I was kicked and stamped on. I believe it was about 12 times.”

He said the kicks were “very forceful” and “repeated over and over”.

“I didn’t think he was going to stop.”

He said he had been in “a lot of pain” since the attack and struggled to walk and do activities with his daughter.

He said he remembered coming round when his neighbour came to his aid and then ending up in hospital.

The court heard that Childs had 10 previous convictions for offences including violence.

Troubled childhood

Philip Standfast, mitigating, said there was “clearly a long history of drink and drug abuse arising from (Childs’) troubled childhood and adolescence”.

He said Childs had recently started a course at Askham Bryan College in York but had not re-enrolled for the coming academic term due to these court proceedings.

Judge Simon Hickey said:

“This was a prolonged and persistent assault on that man on the floor when he was defenceless.”

Jailing Childs for 16 months, he said that only an immediate prison term could be merited for “attacking a man without warning and without provocation when he’s on the floor”.

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