north yorkshire police Archives - Page 112 of 147

Two men charged with murder at Mayfield Grove flat

Two men have been charged with murder after a man was found dead at a flat in Mayfield Grove, Harrogate.

Police arrested the men, 36 and 38, on Monday night after receiving a report at around 11.30pm that a man had died there.

The two men are due to appear at York Magistrates Court.

A third man arrested in connection with the incident has been released with no further action.

DCI Jonathan Sygrove, of North Yorkshire Police’s major investigation team, said:

“I’d like to thank local residents for their patience and support while we carry out enquiries. I can reassure people that this was an isolated incident, and officers will remain in the area to provide ongoing reassurance and support to the community.”

Vandals wreck outdoor nativity scene near Boroughbridge

Villagers near Boroughbridge were left angry and upset after vandals wrecked a nativity scene in their parish churchyard.

The nativity was put in place at St John’s Church in Minskip last week in time for a carol service, held outside because of covid concerns.

A central part of it was the nativity scene, which three or four of the church council had put up themselves.

The first indication that something had happened came early this morning.

The scene this morning.

Churchwarden Robert Beaumont said:

“The lovely couple, Jason and Helen, who live next door to the church, heard a noise at about 5am.

“They’re not sure if that was the vandals destroying the nativity scene but when they looked out of their windows at about 7am, all the wise men, the crib, everything, was scattered all around the churchyard.

“To have it just destroyed in this wanton and mindless manner was heart-breaking. And we’ve all been thinking, why would anybody want to do that?”

The church has reported the incident to police.

Villagers have managed to salvage the scene and rebuild it,

Mr Beaumont said.

“Although the vandals kicked parts of the scene all over the church or they didn’t break them in two.

“So with a lot of love and care, three members of our church committee worked from about half past eight this morning and put the whole scene back together again.

“And so, as one of our church council members said, love will always triumph over hate and good over evil. And that’s one of the messages of Christmas, so that was rather appropriate.

“But that doesn’t quite extinguish my anger as churchwarden that people should find it appropriate to desecrate our churchyard.”

It caps a difficult period for St John’s. A drunken motorist crashed into the church wall about six weeks ago. Insurance covered it but the church had to pay a £500 excess.

Covid-permitting, the village will hold an outdoor Christmas Day service with the nativity scene firmly in the foreground.

Mayfield Grove residents react to ‘absolutely shocking’ suspected murder

People who live and work on Mayfield Grove have reacted with shock after three men were arrested on suspicion of murdering a man in a flat on the street.

North Yorkshire Police received a report that a man had died in a flat above Mykonos Bar & Grill at about 11.30pm last night. The flat and restaurant are not connected.

Officers went to the scene and found the body of a man.

A police statement said three men, two in their 30s and one in his 20s, were arrested at the flat on suspicion of murder. They remain in custody at this time.

One resident of Mayfield Grove, who asked not to be named, said the suspected murder was “absolutely shocking”.

Meanwhile, Natalia Fischer, from Bocian Polish Shop, which is next door to where the incident took place, said there were around seven police cars and an ambulance on the street when she came into work this morning.

She said:

“It’s not good.

“But I never have a problem with customers. People are friendly.”

Harrogate man Daniel Ainsley was jailed in October for murdering Mark Wolsey, also on Mayfield Grove, earlier this year.

Police were at the scene all morning

Men suspected of murder after body found in Harrogate

Three men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a body was found on Mayfield Grove in Harrogate.

North Yorkshire Police received a report that a man had died in a flat at about 11.30pm last night.

They went to the scene and found the body of a man.

A police statement said three men, two in their 30s and one in his 20s, were arrested at the flat on suspicion of murder. They remain in custody at this time.

Chief Inspector Andy Colbourne, county commander, said:

“I recognise that local residents will be extremely concerned by what has happened, but they can be reassured that an extensive investigation is underway.

“Officers will be conducting enquiries in the area, and the neighbourhood policing team are carrying out extra patrols to provide further reassurance.”

Anyone with information that could assist the investigation is asked to contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for the major investigation team.

Alternatively you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Please quote reference number 12210264785 when passing information.

Harrogate man Daniel Ainsley, 24, was jailed in October for murdering Mark Wolsey, 48, on Mayfield Grove.

Police appeal after ‘violent robbery’ in Harrogate

Police are appealing for information after a 17-year-old boy had his trainers stolen in a “violent robbery” in Harrogate.

The incident happened at Bilton Grange Close, near to the junction with Skipton Road, at about 11pm on Saturday, December 11.

According to North Yorkshire Police, two males thought to be aged between 16 and 18 years of age chased the victim from the Majestic Wine shop on Skipton Road to Bilton Grange Close.

They then assaulted and threatened him and stole his footwear – a distinctive pair of black and orange Nike Air Max 90, which are sold for about £125.

Police want help identifying the two suspects, who are described as slim, wearing face coverings and dressed all in black.

A police statement said:

“They were seen in the vicinity of the Texaco Petrol station on Skipton Road shortly before the robbery took place.

“One of them was riding a black mountain bike and the other on foot.

“Officers are particularly keen to identify a man who was in the area at the time of the assault, who was wearing a distinctive black EA7 baseball cap as they believe he may be able to assist their enquiries.

Anyone with information can contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2, and ask for PC 1484 Dave Foyston . You can also email david.foyston@northyorkshire.police.uk

If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Please quote the North Yorkshire Police reference number 12210260693.

Two boys in their late teens have been arrested in connection with the incident. Both have been released on conditional bail.

Four Harrogate district parish councils join campaign for 20mph limit

A prominent environmental campaigner from Harrogate is urging more parish councils to support an initiative to reduce some speeds limits from 30mph to 20mph.

Malcolm Margolis has been lobbying parish councils since September to join the 20’s Plenty for Us movement.

The movement consists of 500 local groups campaigning for 20mph to be normal on residential streets and in town and village centres

So far, four parish councils in the Harrogate district have signed up for the initiative. They include Bishop Thornton, Shaw Mills and Warsill, Tockwith with Wilstrop, Goldborough and Flaxby and Haverah Park with Beckwithshaw which have pledged support to 20’s Plenty.

Malcolm Margolis

Mr Margolis said he does not believe every 30 mph limit should be reduced to 20mph but that the move would be welcome on roads where people live, work and go to school. He told the Stray Ferret:

“I am definitely hoping to get more parish councils signed up. There are a few councils which will be debating the matter at their next meetings.

“We are confident there is huge, overwhelming support across North Yorkshire. Not only would it save lives but it would also reduce air pollution.

“I do not understand the reasons North Yorkshire County Council has given as to why it could not do this. It would not cost very much and would be policed as much as 30mph roads.

“Unfortunately all that is stopping the movement is a few people, mainly politicians.”

However, North Yorkshire County Council, which is the highways authority, said it has consulted with North Yorkshire Police and other interested parties and does not believe speed reductions would be appropriate.

Karl Battersby, corporate director of business and environmental services, said:

“We are committed to making the network as safe and accessible as possible for all road users and will continue to talk to communities to consider options to allay road safety concerns.

“A revised 20mph speed limit policy is currently going through its approval process following a review by a task group set up by the Transport, Economy and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

“This review, which reported its conclusions this year, heard from traffic engineers, road safety and public health officers, North Yorkshire Police and the 20’s Plenty campaign group.

“The task group resolved that it is not appropriate to apply a countywide default 20mph speed limit.”

Mr Battersby added that speed is not a major cause of collisions in North Yorkshire and that it would require significant investment, as well as future maintenance costs.

Harrogate domestic abuse charity sees referrals triple due to covid

The founder of a Harrogate domestic abuse charity has blamed coronavirus for an increase in domestic abuse after the number of referrals tripled in a year.

Lindsay Oliver is chief executive of New Beginnings, which provides comfort and support to abused women when they have settled into new homes and the crisis team has withdrawn.

This time last year the charity took two referrals a month. More recently it has been receiving on average six a month.

The number of active clients over the same period has also more than doubled, from 15 to 35.

That increase in referrals and clients, Ms Oliver believes, is the after-effects of coronavirus lockdowns this year and last year. She told the Stray Ferret:

“We are just now starting to see the outcome of coronavirus. Many people need support but the Harrogate district has been so generous.

“It’s very difficult, particularly at Christmas. Part of the abuse is financial so these women often have lots of debt so struggle to buy gifts and a nice meal.

“With donations from the community and businesses we work with Roots and Fruits (Harrogate greengrocers) to provide our families with a big hamper of food and a turkey.

“Not only are we able to provide food with the support of our amazing community but we are also able to give them gifts, not just for the children but for the women too.”

Some of the donations for the Christmas campaign.

Where can I go for further support?

If you are in a physical or emotionally abusive relationship, click here to contact IDAS, which is the largest charity in Yorkshire supporting people affected by domestic abuse and sexual violence.

If you’re out of an abusive relationship but need further support, you can self-refer to New Beginnings. Email enquiries@newbeginningspeersupport.com.

Police cordon off Jennyfields house after serious incident

There has been a heavy police presence today at a house in Jennyfields after a serious incident.

North Yorkshire Police arrived at Norwood Grove at about 10am this morning and were still there when the Stray Ferret attended the scene at 2.30pm this afternoon after being alerted by a concerned resident.

Two police cars and a crime scene investigation van were in attendance and a house had been cordoned off.

We contacted the police for further details but had not received a reply by the time of publication.

Tim Walls, a resident on nearby Hartwith Drive, said:

“We left the house to go to the dentist at around 10am. As we were leaving two big police vans came onto the road.

“When we got back they were still here. I walked over to Norwood Grove and noticed police there with a police cordon at the house next to the ginnel.

“Later I also saw some police officers searching the waste bin in the park behind my house. They were there for around 30 minutes.”

As soon as we receive a reply we will update this story.

Guilty verdict for couple who flew in sex workers to Harrogate

A Portuguese dominatrix and her English husband have been found guilty of running a sex-trafficking and prostitution racket in Harrogate after “flying in” women from Europe and South America.

Fabiana De Souza, 41, and Gareth Derby, 53, from Norfolk, flew sex workers in from Brazil and Portugal, paid for their flights and met them at airports, before whisking them off to flats where men paid women for “massages” and “full (sex) services”, Leeds Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Nicholas Lumley QC said De Souza rented a two-bed flat in Harrogate town centre through a letting agency “so it could be used for sex…which would be advertised on the internet by these two defendants”. Mr Lumley added:

“It was run as a business by these two, controlled invariably from their home in Norfolk and the pair of them were in it together.

“The provision of sexual services provided by them was not confined to Harrogate (which) was an extension of an existing business.

“There was another flat in Norfolk put to similar use and when that became unavailable, even the home of these defendants was converted for use by sex workers. The labour force came from overseas, from countries such as Brazil, and they got here by air and their travel in and out of the country was invariably organised and paid for by these two defendants.

“As soon as the (sex workers) arrived here, they would be installed in the flat in Harrogate or elsewhere, always with the purpose of being available for sex.”

The couple, of Town Street in the village of Upwell, Norfolk, each denied one count of people-trafficking and another of controlling prostitution for financial gain. The charges related to six named women who worked at the Harrogate sex den between April and the end of August 2017.

They were found guilty on both counts on Monday following a 10-day trial.

Bower Road flat

Mr Lumley said that at least one other woman was prostituted in other parts of the country, including King’s Lynn in Norfolk and Birmingham, but they were not part of the charges.

De Souza and Derby would pay for sex adverts within hours of picking the women up from the airport and “setting them up” at the flat on Bower Road. The adverts were placed on the classified escorts websites Viva Street and Adult Work and included raunchy descriptions of the women.

They took the bookings and “made the arrangements (with the clients)” who would pay various amounts – from £80 for half an hour to over £1,000 for an overnight stay. Mr Lumley said:

“The defendants would receive their cut.”

The money, described as “significant cash deposits”, usually ended up in De Souza’s Halifax bank account, but on occasions “cash simply changed hands, handed by the sex workers to one of these two”.

Mr Lumley said one woman was flown in from Amsterdam and was picked up by the couple who had driven from Norfolk in a 4×4 pick-up. Derby also drove a Mercedes.

Police were tracking the couple’s movements, including their journeys between Harrogate and Norfolk using number-plate recognition cameras.

An undercover officer searched the escort sites and called the phone number provided on the women’s sex profiles, pretending to be a client. The call went through to De Souza’s mobile phone in King’s Lynn.

She answered in “broken English”, claiming to be ‘Lisa’, and an “appointment” was made for the Harrogate flat.

Mr Lumley said the couple “often met the flights at the airport or arranged for a train ticket to be available at the airport as they moved these women around the country or put them on a bus and sent them up to Harrogate or somewhere else”.

Harrogate flat rented for £700 a month

Following her arrest, De Souza told police she had left her husband in September 2017 with the intention of divorcing him and moved to Harrogate “where no-one knew me”.

She said she rented the Bower Road flat for over £700 a month and let rooms out to “others”, some of whom were “friends from Portugal”.

She said it was “none of my business what (the women) were doing, as long as they paid (their) rent”.

She claimed that in May 2018, she reconciled with her husband and moved back to Norfolk, to a property in Walpole St Andrew.

Derby said he only had an “inkling that Fabia worked at the Harrogate flat as a dominatrix”.

Mr Lumley said that photos of the women – which were often false and whose profiles made out they were much younger than their true ages – were posted with the ads.

The women arrived at various airports including Manchester, Gatwick and Stansted. Mr Lumley said:

“They are flown in, spend two or three weeks in the country and then flown out again.”

In a text sent to an associate in January 2018, Derby boasted of being a “smuggler of women”.

One advert showed a “Latina” woman who said her services included “tantric massage, role play and fantasy”.

The undercover officer made an “appointment” and went to the Harrogate flat as a ‘client’, dressed in civilian clothes and with female back-up officers waiting outside.

Once inside the flat, he showed the woman his warrant card. She showed him a Brazilian ID card, but her responses were “not entirely honest”.

£40,000 in five months

Police trawled through the bank accounts of De Souza and her husband and found they had spent “thousands on air fares” and over £2,000 on Viva Street adverts alone. Mr Lumley said:

“Who knows how much cash simply changed hands?”

He added that £40,000 appeared in the couple’s bank accounts during the five-month prostitution racket in Harrogate alone.

The undercover cop said that on his first visit to the building on Bower Road, the sex worker named ‘Lisa’ buzzed him into the flats which were above shops. He was met by a woman in a “revealing” short-length dressing gown who said she had also worked as a stripper.

He made “numerous” such visits to other women after responding to adverts including one for a “Hot Brazilian, full service”. She was about 57 years’ old but was advertised as 33.

He said there was another woman in her 50s inside the flat who was also a sex worker. She said she was from the “Republic of Portugal” but was born in Brazil. She had been earning about £280 per day.

Michael Fullerton, for De Souza, said there was no dispute that she was working as a dominatrix before and during the prostitution enterprise. She had previously worked as a stripper.

Richard Mohabir, for Derby, said his client was adamant that he “controlled nobody” and “didn’t know sex work or prostitution was going on”.

However, the jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts on both defendants.

Judge Guy Kearle QC adjourned sentence until January 18. He granted both defendants bail until then.

Police appeal after mass brawl in Harrogate

North Yorkshire Police is appealing for information following reports of a group of men fighting on Harrogate’s Bower Street last night.

Police were alerted to the incident at about 9pm. It is not known what caused the disturbance, or how many people were involved.

A police statement today said:

“Although no reports of any injuries were received, officers need to speak to those involved.”

It added that any witnesses, or people with information, could call the police on 101, select option 2 and ask for PC Ambler collar number 216.

Or, if you wish to remain anonymous, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

The reference number is 12210259739.

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Where can I go for further support?

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Bower Road flat

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Harrogate flat rented for £700 a month

£40,000 in five months

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