Leeds Crown Court Sentencing Results

Samuel Melia, 34, a regional organiser for right-wing organisation Patriotic Alternative, set up an online library of racist stickers via a Telegram group called Hundred Handers with over 3,500 subscribers. Members downloaded and printed stickers to display in public places around the UK, with the intent to stir up racial hatred. Melia was arrested in Farsley, near Leeds, in April 2021, with stickers found in his wallet. A search of his home revealed a book by Oswald Moseley, a poster of Adolf Hitler, and a Nazi emblem. Digital devices contained an archive of over 200 stickers and photos of them placed in various locations. He advised using VPNs and anonymous emails. Telegram messages showed he expected and encouraged public display, including placing them himself.

Eleanor Brown, 24, from Morley, Leeds, uploaded intimate photographs of her father's former partner to the escort website Viva Street, creating an advertisement and including the woman's husband's telephone number, resulting in numerous calls to him. She also sent the images to the husband and posted a review on his business page stating she received naked pictures in response to a quote request. The offence occurred while Brown was drunk, leading to the victim experiencing panic, upset, and a nightmare of images being shared widely.

Alex Kear, a 50-year-old city councillor on Wakefield Council, sent graphic messages and a picture of his genitals to an undercover police officer posing as the mother of a three-year-old girl, expressing fantasies of abusing young children, including the statement 'The older I get the younger I seem to like' and that he had 'waited years' to abuse a young child. He met the officer once to discuss arrangements and planned to meet again in August last year to carry out the abuse, before being arrested in a police sting.

Humraz Pinnu Shahid, 43, of Leeds, owned a basement flat rented to the victim for £75 a week. The windowless cellar flat in a terraced house lacked a smoke alarm and was unsuitable for habitation without planning consent or building regulation approval. On 26 June 2019, the victim, 32, fell asleep leaving his cooker on; the fire blocked the exit, leading to his death. A coroner ruled the death avoidable due to hazards that would have prompted an emergency prohibition order.

Lucas Akins crashed into cyclist the victim with his Mercedes G350 in Huddersfield on March 17, 2022, causing catastrophic head injuries that led to the victim's death 10 days later. Akins was 36 years old and resided in Heys Road, Thongsbridge at the time.

In 2017, during a dispute in the kitchen, Shaun Birchall became extremely angry and deliberately pushed a child's buggy into the back of the victim's legs or lower back multiple times, causing her to fall forward and her abdomen to collide with the corner of an open freezer door. The victim was 17 weeks and three days pregnant at the time. The impact resulted in the rupture of her amniotic sac, and 12 weeks later, her daughter was stillborn. The victim was left in a coma and fighting for her life following the assault.

Hendrik van der Genugten, a 40-year-old Dutch man, was driving a lorry that arrived at Humberside Sea Terminal on 9 May 2019 from the Hook of Holland. Border Force officers stopped and searched the lorry, discovering 35 kilos of cocaine hidden in the rear doors. The drugs had a potential street value of approximately £3 million if cut and sold in the UK. He was arrested by National Crime Agency investigators and charged with importing and conspiring to supply cocaine.

Ghulam Hussain, 30, of Batley, admitted to an undercover officer that he intended to travel to Syria to join Islamic State (also known as Daesh or ISIS). He had made preparations including purchasing airline tickets and obtaining credit cards fraudulently to fund the trip. He was arrested on November 2, 2016, after an investigation by the North East Counter Terrorism Unit, and was also charged with providing money and advice to assist in terrorist acts.

On June 22, 2015, in the early hours, Dilbir Singh and accomplice Anthony Robert Fuery entered a house in Huddersfield. Singh, wearing a bandana over part of his face, held a large serrated knife, while Fuery wore a plastic Iron Man mask and picked up a hammer. They confronted the victim, who was visiting the house. Singh demanded to know the whereabouts of his girlfriend and son, recognized the victim, removed his bandana, and assaulted him by cutting the top of his head three times with the knife. Singh also attempted to strike the victim with other items before the victim escaped.

James Lilley, 24, of Heckmondwike, was part of a burglary gang that committed 15 burglaries or attempted burglaries over eight months ending in January 2015 across Kirklees, including Heckmondwike, Dewsbury, Gomersal, Cleckheaton, Huddersfield, and Bradford. The gang stole cars and property worth £150,000, targeting homes of families on holiday, children before Christmas, and sleeping householders. Specific incidents included entering a home in Sheepridge to steal an irreplaceable wedding ring and using mole grips to break locks.

Jack Trotter, 23, of Cleckheaton, was central to a gang committing 15 burglaries or attempted burglaries over eight months ending in January 2015 in areas like Heckmondwike, Dewsbury, Gomersal, Cleckheaton, Huddersfield, and Bradford. They stole £150,000 worth of cars and jewellery, including a £35,000 Audi from a house in Sheepridge, by breaking patio locks, and a £16,500 car from a house in Cleckheaton, using a bamboo pole with a hook through the letterbox to retrieve keys days before Christmas, ruining the family's holiday.

On February 27, 2015, at the Wharfeside Inn in Slaithwaite, Callum Purcell, after being barged into by the victim outside the pub, engaged in a tussle. Later, he followed a witness back into the pub, drew a meat cleaver from his jacket, and swung it at the victim's head, causing a 12cm cut to his face which required hospital treatment. Purcell was on bail at the time and on April 10, 2015, was found with an extendable baton at the Coach and Horses in Linthwaite.

Ian Watkins was arrested following the execution of a drugs warrant at his Pontypridd home on September 21, 2012, when a large number of computers, mobile phones and storage devices were seized. Analysis of the equipment uncovered his depraved behaviour involving child sexual offences, including the attempted rape of a fan’s baby.

Cameron Boylan drove a Nissan X-Trail that picked up the main defendant after a fatal stabbing in Huddersfield. He was subsequently arrested and charged with assisting an offender, and received a suspended prison sentence.

Catalin Barbu sparked chaos in Harehills last summer through violent disorder and arson, leaving local residents rattled and parts of the streets scarred by damage.

On 18 July 2024 in Harehills, Leeds, Celan Palaghia, 21, joined a mob that set a double-decker bus alight and overturned a police car after four children from a Roma family were taken into care. He led people to the bus, attempted to turn it over and threw a brick at police.

Chad Noble attacked a man in the car park of the Travellers' Rest in Cross Gates on October 18 last year after a spilled drink incident inside the pub. CCTV showed the victim trying to de-escalate a confrontation with another man when Noble stepped in and punched the victim, causing him to fall to the floor. The victim suffered a fractured eye socket, jaw and cheekbone and required surgery to insert metal plates.

Bofta Gentian fled from the authorities and was later caught driving on the A1(M) with a boot full of cannabis on 19 December.

Between June 2015 and April 2017, Bryan Walker managed businesses operating from the former Bowman’s Site in Lincolnshire near the A52, including as registered director of Eco Green Logistics Limited, allowing too much waste into site leading to unsafe storage and fire risk. Site permit revoked in March 2017.