Leeds Crown Court Sentencing Results

Jamie Beckett exploited a facilitator's and victims' financial situation by offering cash for medical appointments, electricity and wifi in exchange for images and videos of child abuse involving seven children aged 5-15. Between June 2020 and June 2022, he exchanged 9,493 messages, 356 media files and approximately 39 calls, providing specific instructions and persuading the facilitator to inflict sexual or physical harm. He paid just under £560 in total, with payments ranging from £6.20 to £187 per request. Devices seized from his home contained further indecent images of children.

On August 30 2025, Chadbourne grabbed a wine bottle and swung it towards the woman’s head at a Leeds hotel. She was then repeatedly punched and kicked, suffering a tear in her eye which later needed surgery. Chadbourne later handed himself into police but then contacted the victim, trying to get her to drop charges against him.

Ashley Keenan, 32, set fire to his flat in Rycroft Court, Bramley, on December 20, 2025, while intoxicated and experiencing a mental breakdown due to bipolar and PTSD. He made multiple 999 calls that day, including threats to set the flat alight at 4.06pm and admissions during the act. This was not his first incident; he had set fire to his flat in June 2025, leading to evacuations, and in September 2025, a neighbour smelled burning plastic. Officers found him outside drinking and shouting upon arrival. He was arrested for arson, claiming he was targeted by rival drug dealers due to debts, and his flat had been assaulted previously. During interview, he provided an alibi but couldn't recall his threats.

Zana Adil Mohammed abused a vulnerable teenage boy in Huddersfield in December 2011, committing sexual activity with a child and making indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children. The victim later reported the abuse, leading to an investigation. Mohammed fled to Iraq but was arrested at Birmingham International Airport on 16 October 2025 upon planning to return to the UK.

On September 3, 2025, at around 4.15pm, Mason Murray assaulted his girlfriend in a bedroom after accusing her of cheating due to her receiving an offer for a trial shift at a new job. The relationship had been abusive for three years. He kicked her bags, pushed her into drawers, slapped and punched her, strangled her with both hands lifting her off the floor until she could hardly open her eyes, threw her to the floor, and threatened her with a lamp. When his mother intervened, he called her a 'rat'. He took her phone and later left the house with a Samurai sword, brandishing it in the street and entering another address before hiding in a bush where police found him. The sword was not recovered. He claimed to be drunk and angry during interview.

Between 1997 and 2004, Rebecca Kirton, Gibson’s adopted sister and romantic partner, played a key role in facilitating Gibson's offending, acting as a conduit to provide him with access to victims and assisting in the abuse. Much of the abuse took place at the pair’s home, in Gibson’s car, at venues where he performed, and other locations. The offences reflect abuse against 12 further victims who were aged between nine and 15 at the time.

Between 1997 and 2004, Darren Gibson targeted victims at children's events where he performed as a DJ, including a 'crisps and pop' night at a local children's club. He also picked up other victims in his local area, presenting himself as a trusted, friendly figure to young girls before subjecting them to sustained sexual abuse, often continuing for multiple years. Much of the abuse took place at the pair’s home, in Gibson’s car, at venues where he performed, and other locations. One victim explained how Gibson targeted her at a 14th birthday party where he was performing, before taking them to a local nightclub and then back to his home where he sexually abused her. Gibson often plied his young victims with alcohol and, on occasion, drugs, before carrying out his abuse. He even took some of his victims to obtain contraception so he could abuse them without protection. The offences reflect abuse against 12 further victims who were aged between nine and 15 at the time.

Jamie Bouncer, 22, of Hall Street, Pontefract, borrowed his friend's VW Golf without a full driving licence after attending a house party in Castleford following a nightclub visit. On 12 January 2025, in the early hours of the morning under freezing and wet conditions, he lost control on Wheldon Road, driving in excess of the 30mph speed limit, crashed through a fence, and the car landed in a disused water treatment tank in the Yorkshire Water compound. The victim, 18, was thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene, while the 21-year-old owner of the car was seriously injured.

Adam Sylvester, 29, of no fixed abode, headbutted and repeatedly punched a fellow guest at the Featherstone Hotel on Station Road in Featherstone in April 2025, following a dispute over noise after knocking on the victim's room door. The assault caused multiple facial and head injuries to the victim.

Ryan Walsh, of Meltham Road, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, was arrested following a routine monitoring visit at his home by the Kirklees Public Protection Unit on January 20, 2026. Officers from West Yorkshire Police searched his electronic devices and found evidence of sexual communication with a 13-year-old child and two counts of making indecent images, which violated the rules of his sexual harm prevention order.

On August 12, 2025, in Middleton, Aaran Barden racially abused a taxi driver, claiming to have a bomb in his bag and threatening to blow him up. He shouted racist abuse at a group of Asian women on the street. He targeted a family outside a charity shop, abusing a seven-year-old girl and her aunt, threatening to kill them and telling them to go back to their country. He followed them into a shop, claimed to have a bomb, sprayed an inhaler inside, and attempted to enter through a side door. He then followed one woman to her car, kicked the doors, and counted down from 10 claiming a bomb would go off, causing her terror. Police arrested him after recognizing him on CCTV.

Uzair Hamid, 30, of Deveron Grove, Huddersfield, was arrested at his home in May 2025 as part of an investigation into a suspected drugs supply network in Kirklees. He was caught with ketamine with an estimated street value of between £511,000 and £1,460,000.

Khamh Vo, 35, was arrested just outside the Pudsey building at ground level in June 2025 during a raid on a large cannabis farm with 4,500 plants across 22 rooms, potential yield over £1 million. He was tricked into the job after moving to Leeds for a legitimate cleaning role but ended up at the farm out of financial need.

Phan Khac Tung, 34, was one of four Vietnamese men arrested in June 2025 at a large-scale cannabis farm in an old electrical engineers building in Pudsey, spread over 22 rooms and three levels with around 4,500 plants at various growth stages, potential yield over £1 million. He ran the farm but was badly paid and operating under direction. He fled from police but was arrested.

Tai Phan was arrested during a police raid in June 2025 on a large-scale cannabis farm in Pudsey with 4,500 plants spread over 22 rooms and three levels, potential yield over £1 million. He ran away from an officer but was caught. He was a badly paid gardener operating under direction with awareness of the commercial scale.

Tuan Nguyen-Van, 32, was arrested outside the building at ground level in June 2025 during a police raid on a sprawling cannabis farm in Pudsey with 4,500 plants and potential yield over £1 million. He had awareness of the operation's scale and was involved in running it as a badly paid gardener out of desperation.

Megann Gibson, a 26-year-old rookie prison guard at Wealstun Prison, engaged in a forbidden three-week relationship with an inmate starting in early 2023. She exchanged explicit love letters and had graphic late-night phone sex calls lasting up to an hour, discussing marriage and future life. Gibson visited the inmate's mother's home and sent over 900 WhatsApp messages to her. Intelligence reports flagged 102 corruption concerns, including suspicions of contraband smuggling and improper behaviour with other inmates, though no evidence was found for smuggling.

Declan Marsden, of Healey Lane in Batley, stalked his victim between July and August 2025, continuing despite a restraining order preventing contact. He was arrested on August 21, 2025, and charged with various offences.

Emirjon Gjuta, an Albanian national, was deported from the UK in August 2020 after being sentenced for drugs offences, including conspiracy to produce cannabis and possessing identity documents with intent. He returned illegally and was jailed for eight months in March 2022 for breaching the deportation order and false document offences, then deported again in March 2023. He re-entered the UK in November 2024, breaching the deportation order, and was arrested in Leeds in September 2025.

On May 16, 2025, Regan Kemp, 26, was driving a Ford Focus ST at 80mph on a 30mph road in Middleton, Leeds, when he struck and killed the 19-year-old victim on a pelican crossing. Kemp fled the scene but handed himself in days later. He was recorded on a mobile phone by a backseat passenger and described by a witness as driving 'like a maniac'. Kemp denied responsibility during the trial.

Costel Tambac and Mariana Iova trafficked two women from Romania to the UK under the false pretence of jobs in a meat factory. The women were sold to them and forced to work as sex workers in brothels in Harehills and Holbeck areas of Leeds, as well as in Dewsbury, Oldham, and Nottingham. They seized the victims' earnings, leaving them with as little as £10 a day, retained their ID documents and money, and enforced control through violence and threats. The investigation began in 2016 when one victim came forward.

Costel Tambac and Mariana Iova trafficked two women from Romania to the UK under the false pretence of jobs in a meat factory. The women were sold to them and forced to work as sex workers in brothels in Harehills and Holbeck areas of Leeds, as well as in Dewsbury, Oldham, and Nottingham. They seized the victims' earnings, leaving them with as little as £10 a day, retained their ID documents and money, and enforced control through violence and threats. The investigation began in 2016 when one victim came forward.

Marie Thompson, a former South Yorkshire Police officer, blackmailed a man she had arrested in October 2022 on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children. She posed as a paedophile hunter using a fake ProtonMail email address and demanded £3,500 from him, providing bank details. The email threatened to expose his arrest unless payment was made as a 'donation'. When the man reported the blackmail to her, Thompson, who was investigating his original case, lied about being unable to trace the perpetrator, falsified reports, and used her personal phone number disguised in records. She sent a follow-up email attempting to cover her tracks. The blackmail was uncovered when her caseload was transferred in March 2023, revealing the phone number match. The victim, who later received a suspended sentence for his charges, expressed anger in his impact statement over the betrayal of trust.