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.

 

 

 

Care worker admits sexually abusing woman at Harrogate care home

A former care worker has been told to expect a jail sentence after he admitted sexually abusing a woman with a mental disorder at a care home in the Harrogate area.

Carl McQuilliam-Jenkins, 49, was charged with a string of sexual offences which occurred over a seven-month period.

He initially denied the allegations but pleaded guilty to three out of six charges of sexual activity with a mentally disordered woman by a care worker when he appeared at York Crown Court today (Wednesday, January 26). The offences occurred between July 2019 and January 2020.

Prosecutor Catherine Silverton said the Crown accepted his pleas on a “pragmatic basis” and would offer no evidence on the remaining allegations.

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Judge Simon Hickey adjourned sentence for probation reports but told McQuilliam-Jenkins that prison was inevitable, and the only consideration would be length of sentence.

He told the defendant:

“You pleaded guilty to three instances of serious sexual activity with someone with a mental-health disorder.

“You can have a (pre-sentence) report, but you must be under no illusions that the report goes to length of sentence only.” 

McQuilliam-Jenkins, of Howarth Terrace, Haswell, Durham, was granted bail until sentence on March 1.

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.

Man denies firearm charge at Harrogate gastro pub

A 25-year-old man has appeared in court charged with carrying a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence at a gastro pub in Harrogate. 

Brad Tristan Plummer, from Killinghall, denied the accusation when he appeared at York Crown Court yesterday.

The alleged offence is said to have occurred at the Nelson Inn on Skipton Road, Killinghall, on September 29 last year.

The prosecution claims that Plummer intended to cause a named man fear of violence with a BB gun, which is a type of air gun. He denies this.

Judge Simon Hickey adjourned the case for a trial on July 18 next year. 

Plummer, of Skipton Road, was granted unconditional bail until that date. 

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Harrogate drug dealer jailed for supplying heroin and cocaine

A Harrogate heroin and cocaine dealer has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years.

Mark Richard Bowden, 47, was sentenced at York Crown Court today after pleading guilty to seven drug supply offences earlier this month.

North Yorkshire Police’s Operation Expedite County Lines Team watched Bowden sell heroin from his car near his home address on Cheltenham Crescent on December 20 last year.

Bowden, who has numerous previous convictions for dealing Class A drugs, was arrested the following day and a year-long investigation began.

Police searched his home and found heroin and cash worth more than £1,500.

Despite the ongoing investigation, Bowden was arrested again on November 30 this year. Officers found heroin, cocaine and cash again worth around £1,500.

Bowden was also told by York Crown Court to hand back £1,500 which is believed to be from the sale of heroin on the streets of Harrogate.

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PC Michael Haydock, who led the Operation Expedite County Lines Team investigation, said:

“The criminal actions of Bowden and other drug dealers like him are truly deplorable.

“Motivated only by greed to make cash through the exploitation of often young and vulnerable drug-users, they think they can operate without impunity or just receive a ‘slap on the wrist’ from the authorities if caught.

“Well, for Bowden, he can now think again. This substantial custodial sentence will hopefully hit him with an equally substantial dose of reality of the repercussions of dealing Class A drugs in our neighbourhoods.

“We will not tolerate it and will act on any information or intelligence about such activity to tackle the scourge of drugs, which can cause so much harm to individuals and to communities as a whole.”

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

You can contact:

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/

Drug dealer jailed after posing as taxi driver in Harrogate

A drug dealer posing as an Uber taxi driver has been jailed for over two years after dealing drugs in Harrogate in a liveried cab.

Azar Iqbal Rehman, 51, was arrested by police in the Asda car park in Harrogate where he had been loitering in the ‘taxi’, York Crown Court heard.

When police approached the vehicle and tried to confiscate the car keys, the fake cabbie tried to drive off, said prosecutor John Hobley.

Officers searched the vehicle and found 72 cocaine bags and 20 MDMA packets, as well as £710 cash.

Rehman, a married father-of-five who worked as a lorry driver, told officers there were “more drugs at his home”, added Mr Hobley.

Police searched his house and found a further 126 cocaine packets hidden in a lock box inside his bedroom and more cash.

Mr Hobley said the total amount of drugs seized was 85g of cocaine and over 6g of MDMA, an ecstasy-type drug, with an estimated street value of more than £17,000.

Rehman, of Rhodesway, Bradford, was charged with two counts of possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply and one count of possessing criminal property, namely £1,255 cash.

He admitted the offences and appeared for sentence on Tuesday.

‘Half-hearted’ escape attempt

Mr Hobley said Rehman was caught in December 2019 when two officers in an unmarked car became suspicious when they saw the Uber ‘cab’ parked some distance from the entrance to the supermarket. Their suspicions were heightened when it didn’t move for over 20 minutes.

When they approached the vehicle, which was “liveried as an Uber taxi”, Rehman “appeared nervous”.

He was removed from the vehicle after his “half-hearted” attempt at escape.

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Along with the drugs and cash, officers found a mobile phone inside the vehicle, which had a “stream of text messages containing addresses”.

They also found a “dealer debt list”, said Mr Hobley.

Rehman told police he had been dealing for about four months under direction from others.

He claimed he had been paid £150 a week by his drug bosses, but a financial investigation found that £6,000 had been deposited into his bank account during the four months he had been dealing.

Addicted to cocaine

George Hazel-Owram, mitigating, said Rehman had never been in trouble before and started dealing after becoming addicted to cocaine and running up a debt to his own suppliers.

However, he conceded that although there was a “degree of pressure” from those higher up the chain, it “fell far short of duress”.

Rehman had been “directed to drive to certain addresses to deliver drugs”, added the barrister.

He said Rehman had worked “throughout his adult life”, lately as a HGV driver but “predominantly” as a bus driver.

Judge Simon Hickey said Rehman had clearly made a “substantial amount of cash” from his drug enterprise.

He said the fact that Rehman was making drug deliveries in an Uber ‘taxi’ was an aggravating factor as he was “operating under the guise of a taxi to deal drugs on the street”.

He said the police investigation debunked Rehman’s claim that he was only dealing to pay off a drug debt.

He told Rehman:

“You must understand that anybody who deals in Class A drugs is dealing in a pernicious, revolting drug because it causes death (and) misery.”

He said although it was Rehman’s “first foray” into drug-dealing and he had family commitments, it could only be an immediate jail sentence.

Rehman was jailed for two years and eight months. He will serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.

Harrogate man jailed for ‘despicable’ pictures of extremely young child

A man has been jailed for two years for taking “despicable” photos of an extremely young child and distributing them on the worldwide web.

Joseph Pearce, 39, from Harrogate, committed the acts at a property in the area and one of the images drew particular condemnation from the sentencing judge for how it showed the naked child.

This and two other photos were shared on the internet by Pearce who downloaded and sent the images out on the KIK messaging app, York Crown Court heard.

He had also been sent indecent images of children by others on the same app, said prosecutor Victoria Hajba-Ward.

She said that Pearce’s odious offences were aggravated by the extremely young age of the child and the “potential for a high volume of viewers” of the images he sent out.

The child cannot be named for legal reasons.

Pearce handed himself in to police but had already disposed of his mobile phone on which he had taken the images.

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It took police two days to find the phone and incriminating evidence, but Pearce made a “full confession” when interviewed by officers.

It is understood that police in North Yorkshire may have liaised with authorities in the United States during their investigation.  

Pearce appeared for sentence on Friday after pleading guilty to three counts of taking indecent images of the child, three counts of distributing them and one count of making or downloading the images. The offences occurred in April last year.

Harry Crowson, mitigating, said that Pearce, who is a father, had never been in trouble before and had been taking steps to reform himself through therapy and an offenders’ rehabilitation charity.

He said Pearce’s “world came crashing down” after the offences came to light. He had told a probation officer that “I’m glad I’ve been arrested”.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, branded Pearce’s offences “despicable”.

He said the photos he shared of the child on the internet “for (the gratification of) paedophiles, will be out there forever”.

Mr Morris added:

“And one day that little (child) will probably know this.”

He said the worst of these images was “there for others to see and it’s going to be flying round the world”.

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The judge described Pearce as “self-obsessed” and said it was clear from the pre-sentence report that his responses to questions by probation officers were “scripted”.

He told Pearce: 

“To take photos of (a child) in this way can only be met with an immediate prison sentence.

“You no doubt got into this by seeing photographs uploaded.”

He said that by uploading his own vile photos, Pearce may have encouraged others “to get into (viewing indecent images), and so other children may be abused because of you”.

Jailing Pearce for two years, he told him: 

“The only mitigation in this case is your guilty plea and the fact that you went to police to tell them about it, but they would have got to it in the end with the help of the United States authorities.”

Pearce was also placed on the sex-offenders’ register for 10 years and made subject to a 10-year sexual-harm prevention order, mainly to curb his internet activities. 

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.

Guilty plea after £140,000 of cannabis seized in Boroughbridge

Two men who were stopped on the A1(M) at Boroughbridge have admitted their part in a major cannabis-supply operation.

Police seized 14 kilos of cannabis worth £140,000 when they pulled over Silvio Kondi, 30, and Flamur Saliasi, 45, on September 30.

They were arrested and charged with possessing a Class B drug with intent to supply.

Today, Kondi, of Tong Road, Farnley, near Leeds, and Saliasi, of no fixed address, appeared at York Crown Court where they pleaded guilty to the offence.

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Prosecutor Rachel Landing said the drugs had an estimated street value of £140,000.

She said that because of the sheer amount of the drugs seized, it had to be assumed that the two men had close ties to the “original source” of the supply chain.

Robert Mochrie, for Kondi, contested this allegation on behalf of his client, whom he said was merely a courier for the drug enterprise.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, adjourned sentence for the defendants’ bases of plea to be reviewed in terms of their respective roles within the drug operation. They will be sentenced on November 16.