Durham Crown Court Sentencing Results

Matthew Hindhaugh targeted a girl walking in the street in Newton Aycliffe, punched her in the face, covered her mouth, and forced her into his house where he held her down on his bed in an attempt to sexually assault her. The victim escaped after convincing him to let her go and alerted the police. Evidence included CCTV footage, witness statements, the victim’s shoe found at the scene, a 'rape list' of social media influencers, and a sword in his bedroom. He was also wearing a chastity belt at the time of arrest.

Wayne MacMaster assaulted his partner of 15 years after she told him she wanted to end their abusive relationship. The incident occurred on March 8, 2025, while they were drinking at home in Darlington. He punched her numerous times in the face, kicked her to the chest and legs, causing her to fall, and then broke a bannister spindle to repeatedly hit her on the face and head, leaving her covered in blood. Her screams were heard by neighbours down the street, and when one neighbour intervened, MacMaster also assaulted him.

Michael Kane resisted arrest at an address in Easington Colliery on April 6, 2024. Police attended an incident around 8pm for an unrelated offence and attempted to arrest him. He became limp, possibly indicating a medical episode, but then turned aggressive, shouting abusively, refusing to be searched or stand, and had to be forcibly moved. He kicked an officer in the face while being placed in a police van, causing immediate pain, despite his shoes being removed. He was later interviewed at a police station and made no replies.

Bethany Carr targeted a lone male householder in Ferryhill in 2023, knocking on his door at 11pm claiming to be hungry. Once inside, she demanded money, went through his pockets, and stole his wallet containing bank cards and £70-£80. Almost a month later, she and Tracey Cornish entered another victim's home, where Carr remained in the living room while Cornish committed the robbery. Carr had been warned by police not to approach the victim beforehand.

Ellis Punshon assaulted his partner twice during the breakdown of their five-year relationship. On January 28, 2023, he entered her bedroom without permission, punched her in the face, broke her mobile phone, and damaged property before leaving. On March 26, 2023, he dragged her into a bedroom and inflicted multiple blows to her face, side, and body, leaving her in significant pain with swellings and bruising. Between January 12 and February 2, 2024, while on bail, he repeatedly messaged her to drop the allegations and not attend court, warning of consequences, which terrified her and aimed to obstruct justice.

Jonathan Deric Stuart, a registered sex offender classified as high risk, was arrested in Bishop Auckland in October after a police dog named Louie detected a hidden mobile phone and other devices, including covert USB pens and hard drives, believed to be used for possessing indecent images of children. This led to charges for multiple breaches of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order. He was initially set for trial but changed his plea to guilty, resulting in his sentencing.

Dylan Renwick, 31, of Tindale Street, Consett, admitted to five offences including acquiring, transferring, and converting criminal property. Between January and December 2021, he deposited £97,457 into 12 different Post Office accounts, mostly in £1,000 amounts, which was then filtered into other accounts and converted into cryptocurrency worth £87,000, with £10,000 kept for personal spending. He gave no comment during police questioning.

Christopher Orton, 30, of Loveless Gardens, Gateshead, admitted to one count each of acquiring and transferring criminal property. He received sums of money into his bank account as part of a scheme where large amounts were deposited and transferred, exceeding his legitimate income. He claimed the money related to purchasing a car and motorcycle.

Kelly Traynor entered a Tesco store in Chester-le-Street and attempted to leave without paying for meat products worth between £20 and £30. When challenged by a store assistant, she produced a needle and threatened to use it if necessary to escape. The incident lasted about three minutes and caused fear for the assistant's safety. Traynor was arrested later and admitted the offences at a hearing on March 10, 2024.

Oliver Bright was driving an uninsured black Hyundai vehicle when stopped by police on the A68 near West Auckland on October 18, 2023. He provided false identity details, including the name and date of birth of an innocent man, to avoid consequences for driving without insurance and not in accordance with his licence. This led to the innocent man being contacted by police and suspected of the offence, causing him concern. Bright was traced, arrested on October 23, 2023, and admitted to the acts.

Craig Fitch, while working as an account manager for Spotless Cleaning in the North East of England, used a company fuel card supplied to him to obtain fuel not required for business purposes, making thousands for himself between March 28 and August 15, 2023.

Roger Pilling, a 77-year-old metal detectorist from Loveclough, Lancashire, was involved in conspiring to sell 44 ninth-century Anglo-Saxon coins worth £766,000, which were part of the Herefordshire or Leominster Hoard discovered in 2015. The coins, believed to have been buried by a Viking between 874 CE and 879 CE, included two rare two-headed examples showing Alfred of Wessex and Ceolwulf II of Mercia. Pilling attempted to sell them to an undercover police officer posing as an expert for a wealthy buyer, after they were not declared as treasure. Forty-four coins were recovered in a sting operation, though two were never found as Pilling claimed they were broken.