Bristol Crown Court Sentencing Results

Stephen Tems subjected his upstairs neighbours—two women and their teenage daughter—to a prolonged campaign of homophobic abuse and stalking after moving into a flat beneath theirs in March 2024. He shouted offensive slurs, banged on the ceiling, tampered with a doorbell camera, threatened that a friend would attack them, and shouted abuse at a delivery driver. He was arrested in October 2024 but returned to the flat in breach of bail conditions. The victims reported anxiety, panic attacks, and time off work. Two counts of assaulting the teenager were dropped.

David Hewitt, a non-league football coach, organised four other men to carry out a masked attack at the home of the partner of a man who owed him a £30,000 cocaine debt. On 9 February 2026, Hewitt wore a motorcycle helmet and carried a KFC bag, pretending to be a takeaway delivery driver, and tried to force entry when the door was opened. The occupant managed to push the men out and shut the door; a window was smashed. The incident caused severe distress to the woman and her two children, and they left the home permanently.

Nathaniel Simpson was driving a black BMW on the A21 Vinehall Road at Whatlington on 6 May 2024 when he was involved in a collision involving three cars and a motorbike. The motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene. Simpson denied causing death by dangerous driving but was found guilty after a trial.

Ayoob Lakhani met the victim online and claimed he believed the victim was over 16, despite being told which school the victim attended. He sent money for lunch and school books and used significant time and money to groom the victim before committing sexual offences against him.

Kelcie Reed was in charge of an XL Bully dog that attacked the victim inside a flat in Bristol on February 26, 2025. The victim suffered fatal bites to her neck and head. The court heard the dog attacked after the victim had a seizure related to cocaine use, and there had been previous incidents involving the dog. Reed called police and was arrested at the scene.

The defendant was one of five men involved in a planned attack outside Bristol Airport on 21 February. The group arrived in separate cars and waited for the victims to leave the airport pick-up point before colliding with their vehicle at a roundabout near the airport entrance on the A38, then attacking them with bats. One victim suffered cuts and bruises and another was left with knife wounds. Witnesses feared the incident was a terrorist attack or car-jacking.

The defendant was one of five men who carried out a serious targeted attack outside Bristol Airport on 21 February. The group collided with a car carrying two victims at a roundabout by the airport entrance on the A38 before getting out and attacking them with bats. The victims were known to the defendants. The incident caused serious fear and disruption to road users and holidaymakers.

The defendant was one of five men who took part in a serious planned attack outside Bristol Airport on 21 February. The group crashed into a vehicle carrying two victims at a roundabout by the airport entrance on the A38 before attacking them with bats. One victim sustained cuts and bruises while another was left with knife wounds. The incident caused serious fear and disruption to witnesses and holidaymakers.

The defendant was one of five men involved in a targeted attack outside Bristol Airport on 21 February. The group waited for the victims to leave the airport pick-up point, collided with their car at a roundabout near the airport entrance on the A38, and then attacked them with bats. Witnesses feared the incident was a terrorist attack or car-jacking.

The defendant was one of five men involved in a planned attack outside Bristol Airport on 21 February. After waiting for the victims to leave the airport pick-up point, the group collided with their vehicle at a roundabout near the A38, then attacked them with bats. Witnesses believed at the time that the incident was an act of terror or a car-jacking.

Matthew McGrath was driving a Toyota Avensis along Kewstoke Road near Weston-super-Mare at around 9.50pm on 26 August 2024, having consumed alcohol. Witnesses suggested he was driving at around 60 mph in a 25 mph zone when he lost control on a bend. A 20-year-old female passenger in the rear seat, who was wearing a seatbelt, suffered significant injuries and died on 1 September 2024. The investigation found alcohol would have impaired his ability to drive safely.

Scott was first arrested in December 2025 after thousands of indecent images of children were found on his electronic devices. He added more than 40 children on Snapchat and TikTok and encouraged them to send intimate pictures and videos, which he screen recorded. He was convicted of more than 10 offences including taking indecent photographs of children, possessing extreme pornographic images, inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity and inciting a child to look at an image of sexual activity.

On 5 April 2025 in Coleford town centre, members of the Rock Machine Motorcycle Club attacked a rival biker gang leader outside the Angel Hotel, striking him with weapons and taking his leather vest before fleeing. Bell was involved on the periphery of the violent disorder, which took place around 2.30pm in front of shoppers and left the victim with serious head and face injuries.

Gibson was involved in the violent disorder on 5 April 2025 in Coleford town centre, when members of the Rock Machine Motorcycle Club attacked a rival club president with weapons. The victim suffered eight jaw fractures and a bleed on the brain. Gibson was found guilty and described as being on the periphery of the attack.

Price was involved in the violent disorder on 5 April 2025 in Coleford town centre, when Rock Machine Motorcycle Club members attacked a rival club president outside the Angel Hotel. The victim was struck with iron bars, a baseball bat and a hammer, sustaining serious head and face injuries.

Sean Daley repeatedly used a bus stop on Badminton Road near Frampton Cotterell as a toilet between September and November. Human waste and used tissue were found in and around the bus stop on multiple occasions. CCTV and council surveillance captured him cycling to the bus stop in the early hours, discarding cigarette ends and tissues, defecating outside the shelter on three occasions, and urinating inside the shelter on two occasions. He was followed by environmental enforcement officers and stopped after cycling to work in Yate. He accepted responsibility for the incidents and pleaded guilty to criminal damage and littering.

Brandon Carter took part in a series of high-value motorcycle and moped thefts across Bristol during 2025, helping steal bikes worth between £600,000 and £1 million and threatening members of the public who attempted to intervene. He was also convicted of involvement in the kidnap and false imprisonment of a 15-year-old victim, who was beaten and stamped on during a filmed assault that left serious cuts to the face and head. Carter was additionally disqualified from driving for six years.

Daniel Booth was driving a Mercedes in Aust when his car veered into the path of an oncoming bicycle, causing fatal injuries to the victim on 29 June 2025. Booth was found to have 14 micrograms of cocaine and 800 micrograms of benzoylecgonine in his system, far exceeding the legal limits. Dashcam footage showed him hitting kerbs and verges in the minutes before the collision and yawning.

Fiona Hodge was driving into Bristol with two friends when her car mounted the pavement on a flyover and struck a 53-year-old woman who was walking to a concert with friends. The victim was knocked from the bridge and died in hospital the following day. Hodge was convicted by a jury and later sentenced at Bristol Crown Court.

Joseph Pike was arrested after his details were found on a phone seized as part of a separate investigation into human trafficking. Messages showed he agreed to pick up women from the airport and drive them to a brothel in Bedminster, then to other brothels across the country including Sheffield, Hemel Hempstead and Kings Lynn. Police arrested him at his home address where they also found two sex workers in possession of a phone containing evidence linking him to the brothel.

Michael Ronner was driving a scaffolding lorry with two passengers along the A4174 in Mangotsfield on 5 December 2023 at around 5.30pm. The lorry collided with the central reservation and overturned. Passenger the victim, aged 20, suffered a fatal head injury and multiple broken limbs and died at the scene. Ronner was arrested at the scene and later charged. An investigation found that the collision resulted from his lack of concentration and failure to ensure passenger safety. He pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving.

David Clarke, an 82-year-old former religious education teacher at Newlands Preparatory School in Seaford, sexually abused 14 boys between 1978 and 1989. Many of the offences took place in a darkroom he used for the photography club he ran. The victims were pupils at Newlands Preparatory School and the senior school known as The Manor. Clarke was arrested and charged with 39 counts of indecent assault, five counts of indecent assault of a child, one count of buggery of a boy under 16, and one count of making an indecent photograph of a child. A month-long trial at Brighton Crown Court ended in guilty verdicts on all but one count of attempted buggery.

Morris resided at a property near Yate, South Gloucestershire, with a woman known to him. On 16 March, the victim challenged him about a separate matter. Morris attacked her by striking her, biting her finger, gouging at her eyes, strangling her, punching her, and pulling her hair. He then smashed nine windows in the house and damaged two cars. In February, prior to this, he had assaulted the victim and smashed household items after she asked him to leave. The victim sustained facial swelling, black eyes, bite wounds, and ongoing knee pain, and received hospital treatment.

Martin Brunt committed multiple sexual offences against children between 1992 and 2024. An investigation led by specialist detectives began in February 2024 after police received a report that he had committed a sexual act in front of a young child. Brunt was arrested the same day and detectives received other allegations of similar offences. He was charged and convicted of: sexual activity with a child; two counts of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity; sexual assault of a child under 13; indecency with a child; engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child; three counts of exposure. Brunt was trusted by his victims, who were children at the time, and took advantage of their vulnerabilities.

James Randall, of St Philips, was speeding and using his mobile phone when he struck 76-year-old victim with his van on Ilminster Avenue on 18 January 2024. The victim was taken to hospital with serious injuries and died five weeks later. Randall fled the scene; his van was found parked at a lock-up on Narroway Road. CCTV traced the van, leading to seizure and arrest.

Peter Rowell, a 67-year-old registered sex offender from Wickwar in South Gloucestershire, breached his notification requirements by travelling 30 miles to Pontypridd in South Wales to stay at an address for more than 12 hours without informing the police, where a child under 18 was present. He also failed to notify police of another address where he stayed for seven days or longer between November 2025 and March 2026.