Bradford Crown Court Sentencing Results

Dale Alexander Careswell, 43, was deported from Australia after serving a prison sentence for offences involving children. He was subject to a notification order following his arrival in the UK but committed further online sex offences involving a teenage girl and a decoy posing as a teenage girl. He offered money, gifts and bribes for indecent images, including shopping trips, hotel stays and drugs. He was convicted of inciting a teenage girl to engage in sexual activity, attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, downloading indecent images of children, and distributing indecent images of children. The judge said the online offending was still 'very real sexual abuse'.

Ibrahim Farooq, 22, of Bradford, was driving an uninsured Shogun 4x4 involved in a night-time collision with another vehicle in April 2024. Caught on dashcam and CCTV leaving the scene with passenger. Following day called 999 claiming vehicle stolen, completed form and statement identifying cousin Muhammad Ali as driver. Gave Ali chapter and verse on what to tell police.

Muhammad Ali, then 19, of Bradford, backed up cousin Ibrahim Farooq's false story by claiming to be the driver of the stolen uninsured Shogun 4x4 involved in April 2024 collision, following a script provided by Farooq to exonerate him. Both interviewed by police and answered no comment.

Najam Shah spent over sixteen hours on the roof of Teledyne Defence and Space, systematically damaging it with sledgehammers, crowbars, and fire extinguishers alongside others. They arrived equipped, prepared, and determined to cause as much damage as possible, resulting in costs of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Ryan Coullie, a prolific sex offender, moved over 80 miles from Nottingham to Halifax for a 'fresh start' but continued his vile acts. In February 2026, West Yorkshire Police were informed of an account linked to him involved in sexualised online chats and sexual communications on the Kik app with a user in South Africa. He was arrested at an address in Elland that month, and his mobile phone was seized, revealing 27 indecent images of children as young as three. This occurred just two months after his previous protective orders expired in October 2025. He had prior convictions in October 2020 for possessing indecent images of children and attempting to sexually communicate with a child, for which he received a community order and had to register as a sex offender for five years.

Ayaan Rafiq, 31, of Keighley, repeatedly attempted to evade speeding penalties by falsely claiming his number plates had been stolen. He was first caught speeding in Shipley in May 2023 and contacted police with the false claim, leading to the case being dropped. Two months later, he used the same excuse after being caught speeding on the M1. Police investigation, including mobile phone analysis, confirmed he was driving the BMW at the times and locations of both offences. This demonstrated a deliberate and repeated attempt to mislead authorities.

Guiseppe Bottone was traced by police following a tip-off from another force and found to be involved in an online group trading child abuse material. Officers from Bradford District's Online Child Abuse Investigation Team raided his home, arrested him and seized multiple electronic devices. Investigators uncovered thousands of indecent images, including more than a thousand described as the most disturbing child abuse material. He was sentenced after admitting multiple offences of making and distributing indecent images of children and possessing extreme pornography.

David Masters, aged 46, was jailed for numerous child sex offences. Victims gave statements describing feeling directionless after his abuse.

Lee Venni, a 47-year-old drug addict from Cherrytree Grove, Dogsthorpe, Peterborough, travelled 126 miles through the night to Bradford and set fire to a BMW car parked outside a family home in the early hours of June 25, 2025. He used a petrol can containing fuel, as captured on CCTV, destroying the vehicle completely and causing fire damage to a side door of the house, a nearby Lexus, and a stand-alone garage. The family, including the owner, his wife, and three children, were asleep inside and escaped after a neighbour alerted the fire service. Venni, a disqualified and uninsured driver, believed the act was part of an insurance fraud to escape drug-related debt. The incident had substantial financial and psychological impacts, leaving the children in shock five months later and destroying the family's sense of safety at home. The BMW had been recently purchased for £10,000 to be used as a taxi.

Mirlan Palushaj was found hiding in the loft of an abandoned terrace house in Halifax, which contained a cannabis farm with 820 plants in various stages of growth across nine rooms, equipped with fans, lighting, and electrical transformers. Electricity had been bypassed, and windows covered. He arrived in the UK on a six-month visitor visa in June 2025, lost his documents in London, begged on the streets of Manchester, and was taken to Halifax by two men who threatened him into tending the plants. He struggled with alcohol and gambling addictions.

Gerald McCann, 57, formerly of Bradford, deliberately ploughed down a Yorkshire dad in an outrageous road rage attack on Planetrees Road, Bradford. McCann pulled up beside the victim in his van, shouted racist abuse, and asked why he was following him. After the victim threw a wooden stick that missed the van, McCann drove off but returned, driving at speed towards the father, swerving to hit him on the right side of his body, knocking him to the ground. The victim suffered a fractured forearm and deep lacerations to his arm and hands. McCann then chased the victim, shouting more racist remarks and poking him with a carpet gripper rod. McCann had 25 previous convictions for almost 50 offences.

Involved in a mass brawl on Mile Cross Road, Halifax, on February 5, 2025, where over 35 people fought using machetes, baseball bats, planks of wood, and other weapons, resulting in two men suffering life-changing injuries.

Involved in a mass brawl on Mile Cross Road, Halifax, on February 5, 2025, where over 35 people fought using machetes, baseball bats, planks of wood, and other weapons, resulting in two men suffering life-changing injuries.

Involved in a mass brawl on Mile Cross Road, Halifax, on February 5, 2025, where over 35 people fought using machetes, baseball bats, planks of wood, and other weapons, resulting in two men suffering life-changing injuries.

Involved in a mass brawl on Mile Cross Road, Halifax, on February 5, 2025, where over 35 people fought using machetes, baseball bats, planks of wood, and other weapons, resulting in two men suffering life-changing injuries.

Involved in a mass brawl on Mile Cross Road, Halifax, on February 5, 2025, where over 35 people fought using machetes, baseball bats, planks of wood, and other weapons, resulting in two men suffering life-changing injuries.

Involved in a mass brawl on Mile Cross Road, Halifax, on February 5, 2025, where over 35 people fought using machetes, baseball bats, planks of wood, and other weapons, resulting in two men suffering life-changing injuries.

Involved in a mass brawl on Mile Cross Road, Halifax, on February 5, 2025, where over 35 people fought using machetes, baseball bats, planks of wood, and other weapons, resulting in two men suffering life-changing injuries.

Involved in a mass brawl on Mile Cross Road, Halifax, on February 5, 2025, where over 35 people fought using machetes, baseball bats, planks of wood, and other weapons, resulting in two men suffering life-changing injuries.

Involved in a mass brawl on Mile Cross Road, Halifax, on February 5, 2025, where over 35 people fought using machetes, baseball bats, planks of wood, and other weapons, resulting in two men suffering life-changing injuries.

Involved in a mass brawl on Mile Cross Road, Halifax, on February 5, 2025, where over 35 people fought using machetes, baseball bats, planks of wood, and other weapons, resulting in two men suffering life-changing injuries.

Arslan Ahmed, 32, of Bradford, participated in money laundering arrangements with Mohammed Daar by receiving three false HMRC repayments totalling £6,012.13 into his account without any legitimate reason. The money was then returned to Daar minus a small fee. This helped distance Daar's fraudulent activities from the proceeds. The scheme ran between October 21, 2019, and August 19, 2022, as part of a larger fraud involving falsified tax records and false mileage claims.

Moosa Hajat, 30, of Bradford, participated in money laundering arrangements with Mohammed Daar by receiving five false HMRC repayments totalling £9,895.67 into his account without any legitimate reason. The money was then returned to Daar minus a small fee. This helped distance Daar's fraudulent activities from the proceeds. The scheme ran between October 21, 2019, and August 19, 2022, as part of a larger fraud involving falsified tax records and false mileage claims.

On November 4, 2020, in Burlington Street, Halifax, Raheela Sajid reversed her car 40 metres down the street instead of into Albert Street, striking and trapping her long-standing friend, the 86-year-old victim, under the vehicle, causing fatal injuries. Sajid had been chatting friendly with the victim moments before. She remained at the scene and provided assistance. The manoeuvre was deemed unsafe and careless.

On a date in May 2025, Davey McDonagh, 23, of Halifax, stabbed a stranger in the stomach with a knife during a brief altercation at the Courtyard pub in Halifax. The incident followed an exchange with the victim's cousin at the bar, after which McDonagh told the victim 'It’s got **** all to do with you.' He pulled out the knife 'out of nowhere' and stabbed the victim in the left side of the stomach, an attack captured on CCTV that lasted seconds. The victim initially thought it was a punch but discovered blood upon lifting his shirt. He required 10 stitches, suffered ongoing pain, anxiety, and sleeplessness, impacting his ability to work, and feared for his life during the assault. McDonagh claimed a prior incident involving others and a firearm, and he had been a victim of violence himself, including a hammer attack and a chest stabbing.

Thomas Neely, 32, from Valley View, Baildon, contacted an undercover police officer posing as a 12-year-old girl using the name 'fat guy' in September 2024. The conversation moved to the Kik platform where he sent a picture of his penis, a video of himself performing a sex act, and discussed meeting up for sex, including teaching her kinks and being her first. He confirmed his intent to have sex with the girl and planned to go to a house in Coventry. He was traced via his IP address, with matching bedding found at his home, and he attempted to delete apps on his smartphone.

Trimayne Maguire, 29, from Longfield Avenue, Huddersfield, was part of a gang of up to 30 riders marauding through Bradford streets in broad daylight on a Sunday afternoon in July 2024. The gang, including off-road bikes, ran red lights, rode on both sides of the road, and over pedestrianised areas while pursued by police. During the pursuit on Holme Lane, Maguire crashed his quad-bike into a police officer deploying a stinger device, carrying the officer down the road towards the junction with Tong Street. The officer hung onto Maguire and the bike before pulling him off. The officer suffered a leg injury requiring hospital treatment, with ongoing stabbing pains and hypersensitivity, and felt he came very close to dying.

Muhibur Rahman, aged 20 at the time of arrest in December 2022, downloaded and distributed indecent images of children via the internet and Telegram application. Analysis of his mobile phone revealed almost 100 still and moving images, including nearly 50 category A images depicting children as young as babies being raped by adult males. He distributed 27 images, including nine category A, and exchanged messages in January 2022 requesting monetary payment from individuals seeking specific images and videos. Arrested at his workplace following police information about uploads.

Muhammed Afsan, 43, of Bradford, committed sex offences against a teenage boy in the back of his Audi car. He breached a 2022 sexual risk order by having the boy and a 15-year-old girl in his car on two occasions.

Imran Khan, 39, advertised waste removal services on a community WhatsApp page but on two occasions fly-tipped the collected waste. On 4 August 2024, substantial waste was deposited on Munby Street, caught on CCTV using his vehicle. On 16 September 2024, waste was dumped in Scholemoor Cemetery after he loaned his vehicle to a colleague, though he denied direct involvement. The waste included building waste, litter, and garden waste from local residents who hired him believing he was a licensed carrier. The incidents were deliberate, with payment taken from customers, and the cemetery dumping occurred in an area of mourning. Investigation cost Bradford Council £1,908.