Bristol Crown Court Sentencing Results

Andrew Dymock, 33, of Queens Avenue, Portishead, and Robert White, 37, of no fixed address, stole keys to a flat in a robbery earlier on 27 November 2023 with Kerry Miles and Zachery Stone, both of Dickenson Road, Weston-super-Mare. Dymock and White used the keys to access the flat in Upper Church Road, Weston-super-Mare, where they robbed and fatally stabbed the 43-year-old victim during a 74-second attack in the early hours.

Adam Bowers, a 35-year-old former boxer, killed 46-year-old the victim in a flat on Rydal Road, Weston-super-Mare, on November 15, 2021, after a night of drinking. Bowers met the victim at a convenience store and invited him back to the flat. An argument led to Bowers punching and kicking the victim repeatedly, and using a hammer in the sustained attack, causing fatal head injuries. The victim was found unconscious the next morning, taken to hospital, and died on November 17, 2021.

Florin Griu, of Orchard Street, Weston-super-Mare, approached a vulnerable woman in Weston-super-Mare town centre on April 21, 2023, and attempted to rape her before the victim cried out, causing him to flee. Detectives used extensive CCTV searches with North Somerset Council to track his movements from home to the offence and back. He was arrested on April 25, 2023, and charged the following day.

Christine Kekkonen stabbed her 41-year-old husband, the victim, in the neck at their home in Dunford Terrace, Baltonsborough, Somerset, between 4pm and 4.20pm on May 9, 2024. She sent a text message to her mother admitting to something awful, prompting a call for emergency services. Despite their arrival within 15 minutes, the victim could not be saved and died at the scene. The knife was recovered during a search, and she was arrested and charged with murder by detectives from the Major Crime Investigation Team.

In February 2019, Stuart Hand approached a teenage girl he did not know while driving in Pill, offered her a lift, gave her alcohol and drugs, engaged in sexual activity with her in the car, and then raped her at his home address. He drove her home the following morning. The victim, who was under 16 at the time, reported the offences to the police in 2022, leading to his arrest and conviction. She described being terrified and suffering ongoing emotional and mental trauma, including triggers from sights, sounds, and smells associated with the incident.

Gavin Nash, aged 40, of Tansy Lane, Portishead, stabbed his 64-year-old mother to death at his home on June 27, 2023. Nash had a history of mental illness and left his home around noon before returning a short while later and carrying out the attack. Despite paramedics' efforts, the victim died from her injuries.

On 10 January 2002, at around 1am in the St Werburghs area of Bristol, Inderjit Singh Bains picked up the victim, a woman in the street sex trade, in his white panel van after circling the area and stopping outside a pub. After agreeing a fee, he drove towards Eastgate as requested but continued up the M32 to a secluded area off Stoke Lane in Frenchay. When the victim asked for payment, Bains punched her repeatedly to the face and body, causing her to lose and swallow a tooth, then raped her without using a condom. He subsequently told her to get dressed and drove her back into the city. The victim memorised his number plate and reported the incident to the One25 Project soon after, which retained a detailed description. She reported to police in January 2022, leading to his identification and arrest. The trial was in March 2024.

On 21 November 2023, Nathaniel Downer, aged 41 and of no fixed address, stabbed his then-partner four times in a South Bristol property after becoming obsessed with an accusation that she had taken his winning lottery ticket over a year earlier. The obsession had escalated from arguments to physical abuse. When two other people tried to intervene, Downer stabbed one five times and the other once. All victims escaped to a neighbour's house for aid. Police arrived to find Downer outside smoking a cigarette. He initially provided a false story to police but pleaded guilty when faced with evidence.

Kingsley Balkwill committed multiple serious sex offences against four young women between 2018 and 2023, including manipulating and emotionally and physically threatening them. The offences involved four counts of rape, three counts of attempted rape, two counts of sexual assault by penetration, and two counts of sexual assault by touching. One specific incident occurred on 14 April 2018. He was found guilty following two trials held last year.

Alieu George, 46, of no fixed address, approached the victim while she was out with colleagues after work, drawing her away from the group with made-up excuses and isolating her. He made repeated attempts to sexually assault her as he led her towards Dorset Gardens, a park about a five-minute walk from Brighton Beach. On June 22, 2023, just after 9am, witnesses spotted the woman's distress and called police. George was found on top of the woman on the ground. He lied to police, claiming she was his girlfriend. He was arrested and charged with rape on the day of the offence.

Jordan Osbourne attacked the victim in the early hours after she allowed him to sleep on her sofa in her home in Rye. He later followed her into her bedroom and raped her on January 3, 2022. The woman reported the assault to police, leading to an investigation. Osbourne was arrested and charged with rape.

Ryan Kerr raped a woman while she was sleeping at a house in July 2023. The incident was reported to police, leading to his arrest as part of Operation Bluestone. He claimed it was consensual but was found guilty by a jury at Taunton Crown Court in December.

Simon Steeves, 71, stabbed his wife the victim, 59, to death at their home in Diamond Meadow Lodge Park, Weston Road, Brean, on October 25, 2023. He then called 999 and informed police he had murdered her. Officers performed CPR until paramedics arrived, but the victim died at the scene. Steeves was arrested at the scene and charged the following day.

David Sosa Salomon, 37, drove from his temporary home in Oldmixon Crescent, Weston, to Filton, where he waited for his mother to alight from a bus on February 28, 2023. He stabbed her several times in a pre-meditated attack near a pub on Filton Avenue. Members of the public intervened, causing him to drop the knife, and he was arrested at the scene. The victim required stitches and was fortunate not to be more seriously injured.

Collin Reeves, a 35-year-old former Royal Engineer and Afghanistan veteran, stabbed his neighbours the male victim (36) and the female victim (33) to death with a ceremonial dagger at their home in Dragon Rise, Norton Fitzwarren, near Taunton in Somerset, on the evening of November 21, 2022. The murders followed a long-running dispute over parking spaces on the new-build housing development since May 2022. Less than an hour before the attack, Reeves' wife had asked for a trial separation. He climbed the fence separating their gardens, entered through the back door, and stabbed each victim six times while their two young children slept upstairs. Reeves called the police shortly after to confess but denied murder in court.

Peter Greenslade committed rapes and other sexual abuse against two children in the Honiton area when they were under 13. In 2019, one victim disclosed the abuse, and several months later, a second victim came forward with similar details. The abuse has had a serious psychological effect on the victims.

Liam McKane, 54, of Uxbridge, London, punched the victim, 51, from Cheltenham, in the head following a drunken disagreement outside The Kingsbridge Inn in Bourton-on-the-Water on August 28, 2021. The victim fell backwards, hit his head on the floor, was treated by paramedics at the scene, and taken to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, where he died eight days later on September 5, 2021.

On March 27, 2023, David Parish entered the home of the male and female victims in Broomfield while suffering from psychosis due to schizophrenia induced by cannabis use. He trapped the male victim in the kitchen and beat the female victim to death with a golf umbrella. In the days prior, Parish had been acting strangely, carrying an axe and a samurai sword, and believed he was in danger. After the attack, he stole £75 and clothing to facilitate his escape and was arrested later that evening.

Brian George David, a former RAF man, repeatedly abused his victim from when she was eight years old until she was 17. He forced her to commit sex acts on him and raped her on multiple occasions. The victim was a vulnerable child who felt unable to report the abuse at the time. She later suffered from anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, describing how the abuse ruined her life and left her with ongoing psychological effects.