Man admits causing death of woman in car crash near Ripon

A man has pleaded guilty to causing the death of a 20-year-old woman by dangerous driving in Ripon.

Harry Elliott, 25, appeared before York Crown Court yesterday after his Audi RS3 crashed into a tree on the B6265 near Grantley Hall in the early hours of December 6, 2019.

Naomi Buckle, who was from Catterick Garrison and was a passenger in the car, died as a result of the crash.

Elliott, of Richmond in North Yorkshire, who initially denied causing death by dangerous driving at a hearing in August 2022, was due to stand trial yesterday.

However, he changed his plea to guilty in court.

He will be sentenced on July 24.

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Ripon man used Snapchat to engage girl, 13, in sexual communications

A Ripon man has been jailed for attempting to engage a 13-year-old girl in sexualised communications.

David Wesling, 48, a former cellist and chorister with Ripon Cathedral Choir, was sentenced to 32 months at York Crown Court today.

Wesling, of Littlethorpe Lane, Littlethorpe, was caught when he contacted a child profile on Snapchat.

He pleaded guilty to the following offences, which occurred between 27 April 2023 and 16 May 2023.

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Kerri Jones, of North Yorkshire Police’s online child abuse team, said:

“This case sends a message out to adults attempting to engage in online sexual activity with children, that this behaviour will not go unnoticed.

“This is not the first time that Wesling has attempted to have sexual communications with a child. He is already a convicted registered sex offender, after being found guilty of similar offences in 2019 when he was jailed for 12 months and issued with a sexual harm prevention order.

“Wesling has shown blatant disregard for the law and his conditions by committing similar offences again. Despite his attempts to deny these offences when interviewed by police, the overwhelming evidence against him has resulted in him being remanded and pleading guilty at court.”

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Man denies wounding Harrogate pub landlord

A man will face trial at crown court after allegedly assaulting the landlord of a pub in Harrogate.

Christopher Roy Adamson, 30, of Woodfield Avenue, Harrogate, is alleged to have been at the Claro Beagle in Coppice Gate when the incident happened shortly after 10pm on April 9 last year.

Mr Adamson appeared at Harrogate Magistrates’ Court today to face a charge of wounding landlord Alan Hutchcraft, leaving him in need of hospital treatment for cuts to his head.

The defendant pleaded not guilty to that charge, as well as one of damaging Mr Hutchcraft’s glasses, said to be worth £485. Mr Adamson will now face a jury at York Crown Court.

He was given unconditional bail to make an initial appearance in York on Monday, July 3.

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Arrest warrant issued for couple charged with fraud in Harrogate district

An arrest warrant has been issued for a couple charged with fraud in the Harrogate district.

John Carnell, 70, and Jacqueline Carnell, 73, were due to appear before York Crown Court yesterday for a pre-trail hearing.

The couple have been charged with a string of fraud and theft charges which are alleged to have happened between July 2014 and December 2018.

They included dishonestly claiming to have wealth of £24 million to gain a tenancy on a house in the Harrogate district.

Both initially denied the charges when they appeared via video link at Harrogate Magistrates Court from their home in Loule, Portugal, on April 28.

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However, the couple failed to appear at York Crown Court in person to enter formal pleas.

As a result, Judge Simon Hickey issued a warrant for their arrest.

A further pre-trial hearing has been listed for July 21, 2023.

Knaresborough luxury car dealer faces 16 fraud charges

The owner of a car dealership in Knaresborough has appeared in court charged with 16 counts of fraud amounting to more than £1 million.

Andrew Mearns, 54, is alleged to have committed the offences at Gmund Cars in Knaresborough between August 2016 and March 2019.

Sixteen different victims were named in the charges, with the largest individual fraud said to be worth £220,000.

Mr Mearns, whose current address was given as Colwyn Place, Llandudno, appeared at Harrogate Magistrates Court this morning to face the charges.

Wearing a white shirt and grey trousers, he spoke to confirm his name and address but did not enter pleas to the 16 counts of fraud by false representation.

Prosecutor Alison Whitely told the court the alleged offences took place over a “considerable period” while Mr Mearns owned and ran Gmund, a company dealing luxury cars.

Magistrates said the case was too serious for them to deal with and told Mr Mearns he would face trial at York Crown Court. His first appearance there was set for June 26.

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Knaresborough housebuilder denies contravening health and safety regulations

A Knaresborough housing company has denied breaching health and safety regulations.

Ilke Homes Ltd is set to go to trial at York Crown Court after a prosecution was brought by the government’s Health and Safety Executive.

The company was charged with one count of contravening a health and safety regulation on December 12, 2018.

At a hearing on April 26 at York Crown Court, the firm denied the offence.

The company will appear again at the court on March 4, 2024, for trial.

Ilke Homes, which employs 500 people, specialises in building modular homes.

The company builds the homes at its factory on Flaxby Moor Industrial Estate near Knaresborough. The homes are then delivered across the UK.

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Harrogate man jailed for perverting course of justice

A Harrogate man has been jailed for six months after he tried to get his ex-partner to drop assault charges against him.

Daniel Berisha, 33, contacted the victim through a third party demanding she withdrew the complaint she had made to police, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Michael Cahill said Berisha and the named victim started a relationship when she came to live in the UK in 2019.

She moved into his then home in Pendragon Way, Harrogate, but by the summer of 2020 the relationship began to break down due to Berisha’s cocaine use.

On November 4 last year, an argument broke out as Berisha pestered her for money to buy drugs. 

The victim refused to give him the £80 but Berisha “followed her around the house, saying: “Give me the money’”.

Berisha told her that if she didn’t give him the money, he would personally transfer the cash from her account into his.

Mr Cahill said:

“He pushed her a few times (and) she fell to the floor.”

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She managed to push Berisha away, but he grabbed her phone and began using it. Knowing that he knew the passcode for her account, she transferred the money into his account and locked the door. Berisha by this stage had moved out of the house. 

The following day, in the early hours of the morning, Berisha bombarded her with text messages telling her he had “nowhere to go”.

She blocked him on WhatsApp and blocked his calls, but then received over 20 calls from an unknown number. 

Shortly after the phone calls, Berisha, who was high on cocaine, got into the house. The victim “screamed for help” and warned him she would call police. 

Furious, Berisha shoved her and put his hand over her mouth to stop her screaming. He then took her phone and told her not to call police. 

The victim, who worked in the care industry, eventually managed to call police when Berisha went downstairs. When officers arrived, they found the victim with scratches to her hand and grazes on the bridge of her nose. 

Berisha was arrested and bailed pending further enquiries. In the meantime, police requested a domestic-violence protection order from magistrates to stop Berisha pestering the victim. The order was granted.

However, on November 12, a week after the second assault, Berisha sent messages to a named third party asking her to tell the victim to drop the charges.

Furthermore, he told the victim through the intermediary that he had a “video of the (victim) at work” and would send it to her employer if she didn’t withdraw her complaint, warning her that she would “never get a job in the UK again”.

Berisha told her through the third party that the video was of “(the victim) with a male she cared for”.

However, the victim, whose work record was impeccable and knowing she had “nothing to hide”, knew that Berisha was bluffing and refused to drop the charges. 

‘I’ve lost everything’

Berisha, lately of Redfern Mews, Harrogate, was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice and two counts of assault. He ultimately admitted the offences and appeared for sentence today.

In a statement read out in court, the victim, who had since moved out of the area, said she had moved to the UK for a fresh start after a previous abusive relationship. 

The mother-of-two said she had “endured a nightmare” at the hands of Berisha who had initially helped her settle into her adoptive country.

She added:

“I later found out this was too good to be true.

“I’ve lost everything, all my belongings, so he could get money for his drug use.”

Defence barrister Ismael Uddin said that despite the “unsavoury” episode, Berisha was a hard-working man whose employers thought highly of him.

Judge Sean Morris told Berisha: 

“Trying to get (victims) not to turn up in court strikes at the very heart of the criminal justice system and civilised society.

“If these kinds of offences don’t (attract) custodial sentences, then they will become rife. As a matter of policy and as a matter of making sure others are deterred (from trying to pervert the course of justice), only an immediate prison sentence is appropriate.”

Berisha received a six-month jail sentence and was given a five-year restraining order banning him from contacting the victim and going to her home or workplace. 

Ex-teacher jailed for raping girl at Harrogate district school

A former maths teacher has been jailed for 18 years for raping and sexually assaulting a young girl at a boarding school in the 1990s.

John William Renel, 68, pinned the girl down and raped and indecently assaulted her in a locker room at Cundall Manor School near Boroughbridge, prosecutor Rupert Doswell told a jury at York Crown Court.

The victim, who can’t be named for legal reasons, didn’t report the matter to police until 2021, more than 20 years after the alleged sexual abuse.

She said that before the alleged rape at the fee-paying independent school, she and Renel were “joking about something” in the school kitchen when he picked her up and joked that he was going to “throw her in the bin”.

He then carried her out into the corridor and touched her on the thigh near an intimate part of her body, said Mr Doswell.

Mr Doswell added:

“He then took her into a side room – a changing room or locker room – where (pupils) hang their clothing.

“He put her down on the ground on her back. He was on top of her and she remembers him wearing a tweed jacket.”

She said she turned her head “to stare at the wall” as Renel allegedly raped her.

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A family member later noticed that the victim, who was very young at the time of the offences, had become withdrawn and in adult life she had developed post-traumatic stress disorder which led to counselling and therapy.

Mr Doswell said that about five months after the victim’s first police interview, she contacted them again about the incident in the school locker room.

She said she could remember that during the rape, she felt as if Renel’s “body (was) crushing her” and that she was struggling to breathe.

According to the victim, Renel “simply walked away” after the incident, “leaving her on the ground”.

Mr Doswell said:

“She (told police) she had one further memory of another incident (at the school) when she was older.”

She said that before this incident, Renel again picked her up and dropped her on a bed in a dormitory. 

He then laid down next to the victim, sexually assaulted her and then forced her hand onto an intimate part of his body. 

Mr Doswell said:

“Her next memory is of the defendant’s face close up to her.

“She remembers feeling terrified. He was staring at her and scowling. He told her not to tell anyone, before leaving the room.”

Guilty on all counts

Renel, of Main Street, Sessay, near Thirsk, was brought in for questioning in 2021 but denied even knowing the girl. 

He told police he had always taught in a tweed jacket but denied raping or sexually assaulting the girl. 

He was charged with one count of rape and four counts of sexual assault against the girl. He denied all offences but was today found guilty on all counts.

Recorder Anthony Hawks moved straight to sentence and jailed Renel for 18 years.

The former teacher was also placed on the sex-offenders’ register for life and made subject to a sexual-harm prevention order for the protection of children. That order will also run indefinitely.  

Following his sentence, Detective Constable Alison Morris, of North Yorkshire Police’s non-recent abuse investigation team, said:

“John William Renel is a predatory child abuser who has caused unimaginable trauma to the courageous victim in this case.

“I truly hope the outcome at court along with the significant custodial sentence handed to her perpetrator, provides comfort, strength and hope for the future.”

In 1997, a few years after Renel left Cundall Manor, he was convicted of three counts of indecently assaulting a girl at another school in Keighley. 

Harrogate man jailed for ‘sexualised’ online chats with young girls

A Harrogate man has been jailed for over three years after his debauched online chats with young girls led him into a trap set by police.

Benjamin Shutt, 30, “cruised” the internet in search of easy targets and found them on social media apps installed on his phone, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor David Hewitt said police forensic officers downloaded no less than 816 pages of chats which “began innocently and soon became sexualised”.

Shutt, who told one girl she “needed a sugar daddy”, used the KIK messenger app to contact the first under-age child, who told him she was 14 years old.

Mr Hewitt said there were about 220 messages sent between Shutt, of Grove Park View, and the teenager between April 20 and May 16, 2020.

Shutt sent her a picture of his private parts, which he followed up with a request for her to “send me more please, baby”.

Mr Hewitt added:

“He asked for some photos of her body in the bath.”

He told the girl he wanted to have sex with her “so badly” and then they talked about meeting up. 

The girl agreed to meet, but Shutt told her they “probably couldn’t” because he was twice her age.

There were further sexual conversations in which Shutt talked about “the various things he would like to do to her”.

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After the girl sent him a very intimate picture of herself upon request, Shutt asked her if she had photos of herself when she was younger.

He then sent her a link via the KIK app to videos of him performing a sexual act on himself and urged her to watch them. 

Shutt targeted another young girl on the Whisper app in December 2020. He asked how old she was and when she initially told him she was 12, the messages continued regardless.

He asked her if she “enjoyed” the conversations and urged her to send him an intimate photo.

The girl later told him that her real age was 14, to which Shutt replied: “That’s fine with me.”

He said he wanted to have sex with her and “advised” her on how to perform a sexual act on herself. He then sent the girl an image of himself performing a lewd act.

Police trap

On Valentine’s Day 2021, Shutt ran out of luck when the 12-year-old ‘girl’ with whom he thought he was chatting turned out to be an undercover police officer posing as a teenager who posted a message on Whisper asking: “Why are boys so rubbish?”

Mr Hewitt said:

“The defendant replied and invited her to engage in private chat.”

The chats moved to another online platform and lasted about five weeks to the end of March 2021.

Mr Hewitt said:

“He told her that she needed a sugar daddy and explained what this was.”

Shutt asked the ‘girl’ if she had ever performed a sexual act on herself and offered her an “instruction” on how to do so. He then urged her to carry out the act.

Police raided on his home in Harrogate in April 2021 and found him in his bedroom. They seized his mobile phone.

Forensic analysis showed there were seven category C indecent images of children on Shutt’s phone. Mr Hewitt said there was also evidence to suggest Shutt had been chatting with other children, although this didn’t lead to further charges.

Shutt was charged with two counts of attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity, two counts of attempted sexual communication with a child, one count of attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act and one count of possessing indecent images of children. 

He admitted all the offences and appeared for sentence today.

‘Corrupting young girls’

Defence barrister Andrew Stranex said Shutt had endured a traumatic childhood and had been chatting with the girls during the coronavirus lockdown.

He added that Shutt was an “isolated and marginalised” figure with few friends and that his offending had had a “massive” impact on his family.

Judge Sean Morris told Shutt: 

“You pleaded guilty to a whole series of offences which involved you cruising the internet looking for young girls to corrupt. 

“There were two real victims before you were caught by an undercover officer patrolling the internet. 

“As far as you were aware, that was (an underage) girl. You were obviously sexually aroused by young teenage girls.” 

Shutt was jailed for three years and five months and placed on the sex offenders register for life. 

He was also given an eight-year sexual-harm prevention order mainly to curb his internet activities. 

Harrogate man denies rape of girl under 13

A Harrogate man has denied raping a girl under the age of 13.

Carl Briggs, 42, of Wisteria Gardens, appeared before Harrogate Magistrates Court to face two charges on Friday (April 28).

Briggs, who spoke only to confirm his name and enter a plea, denied two counts of rape of a girl under the age of 13.

He pleaded not guilty to the first charge, which is alleged to have taken place at a house in Knaresborough between September 13, 2013, and September 13, 2017.

The 42-year-old denied a second count, which is alleged to have taken place in Bradford.

Magistrates ordered Briggs to appear before York Crown Court on May 30, 2023.

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