A Vietnamese cannabis gardener has been jailed after police found him ensconced in a huge drug factory surrounded by hundreds of marijuana plants worth nearly a quarter of a million pounds.

Manh Nguyen, 18, was arrested at the house in West Lea Avenue, Harrogate, where he had been tending 460 plants inside a sophisticated cannabis factory equipped with irrigation and temperature systems, York Crown Court heard.

Nguyen, of no fixed address, was charged with being concerned in the production of a Class B drug but denied the allegation, claiming he had been trafficked to the UK to work as a cannabis gardener and was a victim of modern slavery.

The teenager was due to face trial today but entered a last-minute guilty plea to the charge, notwithstanding the fact the authorities had found he had been trafficked and was working effectively as a modern slave. 

The Crown proceeded straight to sentence knowing that any jail sentence would be negated by the amount of time Nguyen had spent on remand.

Prosecutor Brooke Morrison said police discovered the bumper cannabis harvest on August 11 last year after raiding the property in Harrogate. 

She added:

“They found inside a total of 460 cannabis plants spread across the rooms of the house.

“The defendant was the only person present at the property. The cannabis grow is estimated to be worth up to £210,000.

“There was a significant amount of equipment recovered including an irrigation system and temperature controls.

“(Nguyen) was found sleeping on a mattress in the front room. It is essentially accepted that he was a gardener given instructions over the phone to water the plants on a daily basis.

“He was seen by neighbours outside the property but only as far as the front of the garden.”

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She said it was “clear that (Nguyen) was performing a limited role” in the drug enterprise and that he didn’t see a penny of the profits. 

Ms Morrison added:

“Clearly, he was a vulnerable young adult and there has been a finding by the (authorities) that he has been trafficked.”

Defence barrister Harry Crowson said Nguyen had come to the UK after being trafficked from Vietnam. He quickly found himself being in debt to his criminal bosses and “taking instructions for a period of time”.

He said that at one stage Nguyen escaped from his criminal bosses and was given social housing, but the criminal gang found him and “brought him back to this same life”.

He said Nguyen’s captors had given him instructions to keep the front garden tidy by cutting the grass, but only gave him a pair of scissors with which to do so.

Mr Crowson said neighbours saw Nguyen performing the pathetic task “either under instruction to keep the grass tidy or because he was in the property with nothing else to occupy his time”.

Mr Crowson added:

“He is very young and came to this country for a better life.”

He said that Nguyen had been on custodial remand since August last year and had already served the equivalent of a one-year-jail sentence.

Used as a ‘modern slave’

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, addressed Nguyen through a Vietnamese interpreter and told the teenager: 

“It’s quite clear you have been used or (you were) what is termed these days a modern slave.

“You were living on a mattress (and) there is nothing to suggest you (made) any money whatsoever from this criminality.

“It’s a common story that people are hoodwinked into thinking they can get work and they are abused in this way.”

He said that had Nguyen played a “leading role…in this cannabis factory”, he would have given him “as long a sentence as I possibly could”, but that wasn’t the case.

Nguyen received an eight-month jail sentence, but he had already served the equivalent period on remand.

However, the judge warned him: 

“Whether you are released from custody will be a matter for the Home Office.”

The court heard that the authorities were looking into Nguyen’s possible deportation.

A notorious Harrogate criminal has been jailed yet again, this time for racially aggravated threatening behaviour and carrying a Stanley knife in the town centre.

Graham McMillan, 38, was found shirtless and drinking beer in the middle of the road after police were called out to reports of an incident at Chico’s takeaway in Commercial Street.

York Crown Court heard that McMillan was swearing and shouting racial slurs, even when police warned him about his behaviour.

Prosecutor Brooke Morrison said that when officers searched McMillan, they found a Stanley knife in his jeans pocket.

He was arrested and charged with racially aggravated harassment or threatening behaviour and carrying a bladed article.

He appeared for sentence today via a video link from Wealstun Prison as he was already in custody serving a 42-week prison sentence imposed in September last year for carrying a hammer and swearing at people in the town centre.

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That offence occurred on August 28, just four days after McMillan was arrested for the new offences.

Ms Morrison said the racially aggravated incident occurred on August 24 – the same day that McMillan had been given a two-month suspended prison sentence for possessing heroin and cocaine.

Police were initially called out to the Asda supermarket on Bower Road following reports that McMillan had tried to steal a crate of beer.

This incident did not result in any criminal charges, but later that same day, just before midnight, police received a further report that McMillan was at Chico’s takeaway and was refusing to leave.

Ms Morrison said:

“When police arrived, they found him in the middle of the street, topless, drinking from a bottle of beer.”

She said McMillan was “swearing abuse” and shouting out deeply offensive racial slurs aimed at staff at the takeaway.

When police warned him about his behaviour, McMillan drunkenly replied: 

“I don’t give a fxxx – do me for racism.”

McMillan – formerly of Harlow Moor Drive, Harrogate, but currently of no fixed address – had 31 previous convictions for 56 offences including threatening and racially aggravated behaviour, carrying a blade, possessing an offensive weapon in public and “many” road-traffic matters and breaches of court orders. 

Defence barrister Jennifer Coldham said McMillan had mental-health issues. He intended to return to Harrogate upon his release from the inevitable jail sentence.

Judge Simon Hickey said it was clear that McMillan committed offences “under the influence of drink and drugs”.

McMillan was handed a six-month jail sentence, of which he will serve half behind bars before being released on prison licence.

A prolific Harrogate burglar has been jailed for two years after stealing £10,000 of clothes from a warehouse in two audacious break-ins on the same night.

Aaron Herbert, 49, and an unnamed man drove from Harrogate to the commercial warehouse in York in a stolen VW Golf, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Michael Cahill said CCTV footage showed Herbert and the driver getting out of the vehicle and being joined by two other people including a woman outside the warehouse in an industrial compound on Malton Road, Stockton-on-the-Forest.

One of the men used bolt croppers to cut the lock of the warehouse doors to break in. 

Mr Cahill added:

“A short time later, the two who arrived on foot left, leaving (Herbert) and the driver in the warehouse,

“CCTV showed the defendant and his accomplice going in and out of the warehouse…with stock from the warehouse, particularly coats.”

The burglars got back in the car and drove off after bagging £5,000 of loot in the raid, which occurred at about 11pm on December 11 last year. Herbert, who was a disqualified driver, was at the wheel. 

Shortly afterwards, in the early hours of the following morning, Herbert drove back to the warehouse and was again with another man. 

Mr Cahill said:

“The men made numerous trips in and out of the warehouse, stealing various items of clothing.”

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CCTV showed Herbert coming out of the warehouse with a bundle of coats – one of which he was wearing. 

Mr Cahill said that about £5,000 of clothes were stolen in this second raid, and £10,000 in total.

Herbert then drove the Volkswagen away from the loading-bay doors to make way for his 

accomplice to drive out in a “mini” vehicle which he had stolen from inside the warehouse. 

They then carefully closed the warehouse doors to make it look “as if nothing had happened”.

Herbert drove off in the VW and his accomplice drove away in the stolen warehouse vehicle. 

However, it didn’t take police long to coming knocking at Herbert’s door as he was immediately identified from CCTV footage. 

The two stolen vehicles were both found in Harrogate’s Fairfax Avenue.

‘Audacious’ raid

Herbert, of Deane Place, Harrogate, was arrested on December 15 and charged with two counts of burglary, taking a vehicle without consent and driving while disqualified and without insurance. 

He admitted the offences and appeared for sentence today.

Mr Cahill said Herbert had taken the VW car after a sneak-in burglary at a named woman’s home in Harrogate in which her car keys were stolen.

Herbert’s 22-year criminal career comprised 27 previous convictions for 85 offences including burglary and 24 theft and kindred offences. 

Defence barrister Harry Crowson said that Herbert, a long-standing heroin addict, had spent most of his time in prison in recent years. 

Judge Simon Hickey described the burglaries as “audacious”.

He told Herbert: 

“You were seen emptying the warehouse of a significant amount of clothes (which represents) a significant economic loss.”

He said the burglaries involved “significant planning” and that Herbert was now at risk of becoming “institutionalised”.

Herbert will serve half of the two-year jail sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence. He was also given a two-year driving ban.

A Harrogate businessman who sexually assaulted a woman in the street has been spared prison.

Paul Harper, 41, touched or “groped” the young woman on an intimate part of her body while the victim was walking hand in hand with her boyfriend in Harrogate town centre, York Crown Court heard.

Harper, a married father-of-three, denied the offence but a jury found him guilty following a trial.

He appeared for sentence yesterday for his inexplicable and “predatory” act which occurred at night, in a crowded street “in the middle of Harrogate”, in August 2021.

The court heard that Harper, of Hollins Lane, Hampsthwaite, “brazenly” walked off after the bizarre act, leaving the Harrogate woman “aghast, shocked and distressed”.

Prosecutor Michael Morley read out a statement from the victim, who described the dramatic effect the incident had had upon her.

She said she found the experience “shocking” and described Harper’s behaviour as “outrageous, disgraceful and predatory”.

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She couldn’t understand what she had done “which had attracted this man’s attention” and said she had been treated like an “object”. It made her feel “less secure” in a town where she had previously felt safe. Mr Morley said:

“She regarded Harrogate as a fairly safe town and never felt there were problems there, but she feels less safe in her home town now…and upset that her parents saw the state she was in (when she returned home).”

The victim said her “outrage and bewilderment” had been compounded by the fact that incidents such as this in Harrogate and elsewhere appeared to be “commonplace” now, or “just one of those things girls have to deal with”.

She had undergone therapy since the incident to deal with feelings of “anxiety and sadness”.

Defence barrister Helen Chapman said Harper’s business and his employees would suffer if he were sent to jail. He was a man “of some means” and his family were dependent upon him.

Community order

Judge Simon Hickey told the disgraced businessman:

“In a crowded street in the middle of Harrogate, you decided to (sexually assault) a young woman…then you brazenly walked off, leaving that woman aghast, shocked and distressed that she could go out in a public street and still be molested.

“You said at trial, ‘I’m not some seedy guy who goes around imposing myself on young (women)’. I’m afraid that’s precisely what you are and that’s why you decided you could grope a woman when she was simply holding her boyfriend’s hands.”

The judge said he had noted the “significant” effect the attack had had on the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

However, he said he wasn’t going to lock Harper up, “although many women may feel that that’s exactly what should happen to you”.

Mr Hickey said he could veer away from a jail sentence because of the effect this would have on Harper’s family.

Instead, Harper was given a two-year community order and placed on the sex-offenders’ register for five years. He was also given a 10-year restraining order banning him from contacting the victim.

In addition, he was ordered to complete up to 43 days of a sex-offenders’ group work programme, 80 hours’ unpaid work and a 55-day rehabilitation course. He was also made to pay £3,135 prosecution costs.

Two men who staged a fight in a layby for TikTok viewers have been spared prison despite one of them brandishing a machete in front of onlookers.

William Fuller-McMillan and Rivers Wilson, both 22 and from Ripon and Knaresborough respectively, were armed with weapons when they turned up for the pre-arranged fight near Ripon racecourse, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Lewis Kerr said it appeared the fight had been arranged between Wilson and another named man following an “issue” with a young woman.

The fight was set for a layby on Boroughbridge Road, Ripon, on December 17, 2021, when people turned up in several cars “armed with weapons” in the dark hours to witness the shocking scenes.

Mr Kerr said videos of the fight were circulated on the internet as it was happening, and witnesses called police.

Onlookers who witnessed the “prolonged” dust-up said it was initially a “fair fight, one-on-one”, between Wilson and his rival, with punches being thrown by each man.

But then Wilson “took the upper hand, kicking (the other man) several times” and there was kneeing during the fight, along with “grappling and grabbing”, causing injuries ostensibly to both men.

The court heard that at some points during the skirmishing, someone drove a dark Mercedes at people at the scene.

Mr Kerr said that by the time the fight ended, Wilson appeared to be holding a baseball bat, although he was never charged with this.

Fuller-McMillan then brandished a machete and threatened another man with the weapon.

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Mr Kerr said although the knife wasn’t actually used, there was the “potential for serious disorder”.

He said the entire incident was a “staged fight on TikTok”.

Wilson, of Princess Close, Ripon, was arrested and initially charged with affray. He denied the allegation and was due to face trial on Tuesday, January 3, but admitted an alternative charge under the Public Order Act before a jury was sworn in.

Fuller-McMillan, of Stockwell Drive, Knaresborough, admitted using a bladed article to threaten. The two men appeared for sentence on Wednesday.

Previous convictions

The court heard Fuller-McMillan had a previous conviction for threatening to damage property. He was convicted of that offence in June last year and received a community order.

Wilson had four previous convictions for 12 offences, the last of which in 2019 resulted in a 22-month jail sentence in February 2020.

Barrister Patrick Palmer, for Wilson, said his client earned good money in construction and had stayed out of trouble since the incident in Ripon.

Nicholas Hammond, for Fuller-McMillan, said his client had moved away from Ripon following the incident and had since set up home with his partner and worked full time as a joiner.

He said Fuller-McMillan was at the scene to support his friend Wilson and his actions were down to a “lack of maturity”.

Judge Simon Hickey described the staged fight in Ripon as a “disgraceful incident”.

He told the defendants:

“In the darkness, you all decided you were going to have a fight. You all attended in several motor cars armed with weapons.

“Any member of the public going past would have been very upset and perturbed by what then occurred.”

Fuller-McMillan was given a 22-month prison sentence, but this was suspended for 18 months because of his “impressive” character references and the fact that he had stayed out of trouble since the incident. As part of the order, he must complete 150 hours’ unpaid work.

The judge told Wilson that although he had been involved in a “nasty piece of violence”, he was “impressed that you and your co-accused are both working and keeping out of trouble”.

Wilson was fined £500 for the public-order offence and ordered to pay a statutory surcharge. Both men were ordered to pay £185 prosecution costs.

A solicitor who rammed his car into his wife’s home in Harrogate and subjected her to “mental torture” has been jailed for breaching a restraining order designed to protect her.

Richard Wade-Smith, 66, was spared jail in September after he admitted harassment causing fear of violence, damaging property and drink-driving.

That followed an unrelenting harassment campaign against his now-former partner which culminated in the incident on Boxing Day 2021 when Wade-Smith, who was drunk, rammed his Nissan Qashqai into his wife’s home in Slingsby Walk. 

On that occasion, Wade-Smith received a three-year community order with a rehabilitation programme and restraining order banning from contacting the victim or going anywhere near her property. 

It was hoped that a non-custodial sentence would enable him to “rebuild his life”, but within four days of it being imposed, he went to his wife’s house and knocked on the door.

Restraining order breach

Barrister Kelly Sherif, who was prosecuting at the initial sentence hearing, said it was about 8.15am on September 19 when Wade-Smith’s wife heard a knock at her door. Wade-Smith walked off but about two hours later he returned, knocked on her door again and called her name.

The named victim went to the door, but Wade-Smith, a former “high-powered” lawyer, walked off again.

A neighbour called police and Wade-Smith was arrested. He was charged with two counts of breaching a restraining order and remanded in custody. 

He admitted the offences and was due to be sentenced in October, but Judge Sean Morris adjourned the case to look into the possibility of new hostel accommodation as an alternative to jail.

York Crown Court.

Wade-Smith, of no fixed address, appeared for sentence at York Crown Court today.

The court heard that under the terms of the restraining order, Wade-Smith was supposed to go straight to Harrogate Borough Council’s offices to seek emergency accommodation following his release from custody in September.

However, Brooke Morrison, prosecuting at today’s adjourned sentence hearing, said there had been a delay in releasing him from custody which meant that when he was freed, the council offices had closed for the day and there was no room for him at any hostels in Harrogate.

He had slept rough on his first night of freedom and failed to get in touch with the council the following day, which meant that his request for hostel accommodation was turned down.

The lawyer slept in an expensive hotel for “one or two nights”, but then got drunk and ended up sleeping on the street.

He claimed that while sleeping rough he had been robbed of his credit cards and woke up in hospital. 

He said that with “nowhere else to go”, he headed for his former marital home. 

Too drunk to get out of car

Wade-Smith, who had worked for various law firms in Yorkshire and latterly ran his own legal service from Wedderburn House, was nearly twice the drink-drive limit when he rammed his car into his wife’s home on Boxing Day.

His wife was woken by a terrible “smashing” noise which she initially thought was an “explosion”. 

Wade-Smith was so drunk that police had to help him out of the car, which was damaged along with the front of the semi-detached home. 

The incident followed months of marital discord in which Wade-Smith falsely accused her of being unfaithful and forced her to flee the house.

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Wade-Smith, a Cambridge law graduate, had been in a relationship with the victim for about 22 years, but in 2021 his behaviour changed after he started drinking again.

He would “disturb (his wife’s) sleep”, waking her in the middle of the night and demanding she “answer questions” of a personal nature, said the prosecution.

In November last year, she started receiving nasty messages on a “daily basis” from Wade-Smith. On one occasion inside the house, he told her: 

“If you don’t go now, I’ll kick you down the stairs.”

Wade-Smith was said to have been suffering from psychosis and “hypermania” after becoming bipolar in middle age. 

Defence barrister Ayman Khokar said that Wade-Smith “wasn’t in his senses” when he went back to the victim’s home and breached the order.

‘Re-triggered trauma’

Judge Morris, the Recorder of York, told Wade-Smith it was his “own fault” that he was now facing a jail sentence. 

He said although it was true that he had only knocked on his wife’s door, it had “re-triggered the whole trauma of the past and that is why it has caused this (victim) very serious distress”.

He added: 

“She is in a bad way because of you, and it is a form of mental torture.”

Wade-Smith was given a 10-month jail sentence, but he will only serve half of that, less the time he had already spent on remand, before being released on prison licence. 

The judge ordered that the restraining order would remain in place indefinitely.

North Yorkshire Police has said the “entirely avoidable” death of a Ripon man caused by an Amazon delivery driver on Snapchat shouold serve as a warning to motorists not to use their phones.

Daniaal Iqbal, 23, was jailed for three-and-a-half years at York Crown Court yesterday after being found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.

He was running out of fuel and texting on Snapchat when he killed biker Peter Rushforth, 56, on on Kirkby Road near Ripon in September 2019.

Iqbal, of Toller Lane, Bradford, was on the second day of his new Amazon delivery job,

Speaking about the sentence handed to Iqbal, Detective Sergeant Kirsten Aldridge of North Yorkshire Police’s major collision investigation team, said;

“From the seconds after the collision which killed Mr Rushforth, Iqbal denied any responsibility for the collision – categorically stating he was not using his phone. However, our experienced digital forensic investigators found unquestionable evidence to challenge Daniaal Iqbal’s claims.

“This is yet another fatal collision caused by a driver who refused to listen to the warnings about the risk of using a mobile while driving and chose to blatantly disregard the law. Very sadly it’s Peter Rushforth who has paid the price for Daniaal Iqbal’s poor decision-making. To lose someone in a traffic collision is devastating. But to know that it was entirely avoidable and was caused by someone who believed sending a message was more important than their safety is galling.

“I hope the sentence handed to Daniaal Iqbal makes those drivers who may take that chance and use their mobile behind the wheel just stop and think for a moment. When you’re driving, please put your phone away – another person’s life could depend on it.”

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An Amazon delivery driver who caused the death of a motorcyclist by dangerous driving in Ripon has been jailed.

Daniaal Iqbal, 23, was running out of fuel and texting on Snapchat when he knocked over and killed Peter Rushforth on Kirkby Road near Ripon in September 2019.

Iqbal, of Toller Lane, Bradford, denied driving dangerously, but was found guilty by a jury on August 15 this year.

He appeared before York Crown Court this afternoon where he was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

Second day of new job

Iqbal, who was on only the second day of his new Amazon delivery job, was also allegedly using a navigational app on his mobile phone when the collision occurred.

He was driving around a sweeping bend on Kirkby Road when he collided with Mr Rushforth’s Suzuki travelling in the opposite direction, the court was told.

Mr Rushforth, 56, was on the correct side of the road as he came around the bend, but Iqbal’s white Transit van was on the wrong side. The side of the van struck Mr Rushforth’s helmet, part of which broke off.

Mr Rushforth and his motorbike then slid along the road towards the grass verge, crashing into a stone wall. He then collided with some tree branches before falling to the ground. Other motorists went to his aid, but he suffered fatal injuries and was certified dead at the scene.

York Crown Court.

The court heard that about 15 minutes before the collision on September 21, Iqbal exchanged five text messages with an Amazon colleague about needing to refuel and arranging to meet up at the Morrisons petrol station in Ripon because he didn’t have a company fuel card.

He then made a delivery in Ripon and was travelling on Kirkby Lane, towards the town, when the crash occurred at about 6.30pm.

Mr Rushforth and his bike were thrown from the road into a nearby wall and then into a tree, the court was told.

Police were called out and Iqbal, who was described as looking “completely shocked”, remained at the scene.

Phone records showed that minutes before the collision, he had carried out a search on the Apple Maps navigation app to get directions to the fuel station.

At 6.30pm, around the time of the crash, records showed that the camera and Snapchat apps on Iqbal’s phone had been activated as he approached the collision site.

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A forensic officer said his investigation suggested that Iqbal had sent a Snapchat message to a friend at about the time the delivery van came round the bend into the path of Mr Rushforth’s motorbike.

The court heard that Iqbal was “distracted” for 32 seconds in the time that the crash happened.

‘Devastated’ and ‘remorseful’

Katherine Robinson, prosecuting, told the court this afternoon that Iqbal’s use of his phone had caused a “substantial risk of danger”.

However, Felicia Davy, mitigating, said the 23-year-old had never been before the courts before and was a “low risk” of future offending.

Ms Davy said the defendant was “devastated” and “remorseful” and that the case had been delayed for three years.

She said:

“In the three years since this offence, he has used his time as positively as possible.

“He is not somebody who has no regard or lack of appreciation of the impact on the deceased’s family.”

Iqbal did “everything appropriate” to help following the crash and has since suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, the defence added.

Judge Simon Hickey sentenced the 23-year-old to three and a half years in prison.

Judge Hickey said while he accepted that Iqbal was a “decent young man” and was “spoken of highly”, he was distracted for too long and caused the death of an “innocent man”.

Iqbal was also disqualified from driving for 45 months.

He will serve half of his sentence before being released on licence.

A man has been jailed for setting fire to a historic Knaresborough pub and causing £15,000 worth of damage.

Stephen Pearson, of Pinhoe Road in Exeter, was charged with arson at Blind Jack’s pub on Market Place in the town on August 21 last year.

He admitted the offence and was jailed for 31 months at York Crown Court this morning.

Pearson, who had grown up in the area, had been in Knaresborough for a week’s holiday to visit old places from his childhood.

The court heard how, because the weather was poor, the 45-year-old decided to go drinking in Wetherspoons.

At around 8.15pm, he went to Blind Jack’s pub where customers complained he had been handing out flyers from a bag.

Dan Cowdy, prosecuting, told the court that Pearson had been asked politely by bar staff to leave the premises.

He was described as “smelling of cannabis” and stumbling.

Mr Cowdy said:

“On his way out, he asked if [other customers] had complained about him.”

The court was told that Pearson then went to the Cross Keys pub and missed his train to Leeds.

As a result, he decided to sleep in the castle grounds and woke up at 4am.

‘Woke up cold and angry’

Mr Cowdy told the court that Pearson “woke up feeling cold and angry” and began walking back to Market Place.

On his way, he picked up a bin bag of paper and placed it in front of Blind Jack’s pub.

CCTV shown in court showed Pearson attempting to light the bag multiple times at 4.14am.

He then left and returned with a piece of paper at 4.27am, which he set fire to and used to ignite the bag before leaving the scene.

CCTV footage from the fire, which shows the bin bag in front of the pub.

The fire caused an estimated £15,235 worth of damage to the door, glass and signage of the pub.

The Grade II listed pub is named after Knaresborough’s John Metcalf, the first professional road builder to emerge in the industrial revolution.

The fire service extinguished the blaze and Pearson was arrested and later charged with arson.

Owners left feeling ‘unsafe and anxious’

Owners Christian and Alice Ogley were staying at a friend’s house at the time of the incident.

In a statement read out in court, Mr Ogley said then fire had left them “constantly checking” CCTV and feeling “unsafe and anxious”.

He said:

“We feel that the effect of this incident has made us feel unsafe.”

The court heard how during interviews with North Yorkshire Police, Pearson apologised and described himself as “an idiot”.

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He told officers that he did not intend to set fire to the pub itself, but wanted to leave the bag in front of the building as he was angry.

Mr Cowdy said:

“He assumed that the pub was empty and that no one lived there.”

Mitigating for Pearson, George Hazel-Owrem told the court that the 45-year-old had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

He added that Pearson had shown “genuine remorse” for his crime and had issues with alcoholism and homelessness.

Mr Hazel-Owrem said:

“It is plain that he has a number of serious issues, particularly with alcohol and as a consequence of that has been homeless for some time.

“He also suffers from depression and anxiety and has had suicidal ideation in the past.”

Sentencing Pearson, Judge Simon Hickey told him that the fire had a significant impact on the victims.

He said:

“As the owners have pointed out, it had a drastic effect of them and a knock-on effect as they came out of covid.”

However, he accepted that Pearson had shown remorse for his actions.

Pearson was jailed for 30 months for arson, plus an extra month to be served consecutively for assaulting an emergency worker in Devon while on bail for the Blind Jack’s offence.

He will serve half the sentence before being released on licence.

Warning: this article contains details some people may find upsetting.

A sexual predator has been jailed for over two years for performing a lewd act near the children’s play area in Harrogate’s Valley Gardens.

Kevin Payne, 67, was under a strict court order not to go anywhere near children’s play parks following previous convictions for child-sex offences.

But on June 12 he parked his car outside Valley Gardens and made his way to a wooded area near a children’s play area, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Brooke Morrison said a passer-by spotted Payne performing a lewd act in woods overlooking the play park.

Payne was “startled” by the passer-by, who spotted him through a gap in a hedge and shouted over to him as Payne ran away.

Ms Morrison added:

“The passer-by gave chase and (as) he followed Payne, he took a number of pictures of him before apprehending him and keeping him there until police arrived.”

Payne was arrested and admitted breaching a sexual-harm prevention order, which prohibited him from going within 100 metres of any recreational area where there may be children present.

However, he denied a separate charge of outraging public decency by behaving in an indecent manner, namely performing a lewd act.

The play area in Valley Gardens.

Payne, from Bradford, was due to face trial today but admitted the offence at the last minute.

Ms Morrison said Payne committed the offences in Harrogate while under investigation for downloading indecent sexual imagery online.

He was arrested for those offences in December last year after police monitoring officers paid him a routine visit to check he was complying with the sexual-harm prevention order following a previous jail sentence for child-sex offences.

Payne handed over his mobile phone on which police found internet searches for sexual images of children and an indecent photo of a child rated Category A – the worst kind. They also found six images of extreme pornography, namely bestiality.

Payne admitted making an indecent image of a child and possessing six extreme-pornographic images following his arrest and was recalled to prison to serve the remainder of a six-month jail sentence imposed in June last year for making indecent images of children.

He was released from prison in January this year and went on to commit the offences at Valley Gardens in June.

40 years of crime

The Crown proceeded to sentence on all matters today as the prosecution outlined Payne’s 40-year criminal history, which comprised 51 previous offences including many for indecently exposing himself in front of young girls and making indecent images of children.

His rap sheet also included voyeurism, kerb-crawling, engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, serious violence, harassment, public disorder, and breaching court orders.

He had been given extended prison sentences in the past for child-sex offences as various judges deemed him a dangerous offender.

Defence barrister Derek Duffy said Payne “did not intend to be seen by anybody” in Valley Gardens when he carried out the lewd act.

He said Payne had rented accommodation in Bradford before being remanded in custody, but he had since lost that and intended to live with a friend in Harrogate upon his release from jail.

He added that Payne — formerly of Ling Park Avenue, Bingley, but currently of no fixed address — was a retired man who had lost all contact with his family and was a “rather despondent” figure.

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Judge Simon Hickey described Payne’s latest offences in Valley Gardens as “quite revolting” and told him:

“You are, worryingly, 67, and you are still committing offences of this nature. Fortunately, the children were not to see what you did.”

Payne was given a 27-month jail sentence but will only spend half of that behind bars before being released on prison licence.

He was ordered to sign on the sex-offenders’ register for 10 years and the judge ordered that the sexual-harm prevention order would remain in place.

Mr Hickey said the named witness who chased and detained Payne would be paid £150 from the public purse for his “very-public-spirited” actions.