Leicester Crown Court Sentencing Results

Mohammad was driving a Peugeot Expert Tepee taxi at around 25mph in a 30mph zone before slowing to 8mph to turn right across a dual carriageway. He did not stop fully and was distracted while a passenger gave directions. His taxi was struck by a speeding car, causing the death of one passenger and serious injuries to two others.

On 16 September 2023, Goulty drove a silver Vauxhall Astra at up to 64mph in a 30mph residential area in Leicester after drinking two lagers. He crashed into a taxi that was turning right across a dual carriageway, causing the death of a passenger who was thrown from the taxi and serious injuries to two other passengers.

James Speirs, a prison officer at HMP Gartree, concealed cannabis, mobile phones and other prohibited items in bedding to deliver to inmates. He collected the contraband from criminal gang members at pre-arranged locations and received cash payments, pocketing more than £12,000. He worked for at least two criminal gangs. He was arrested in October 2022 and police found contraband hidden in his garden shed.

Jessica Fitzhugh, a former Derbyshire Constabulary call handler and dispatcher, accessed confidential police information about incidents in spring 2024 while in a relationship with a man with a criminal record. She started working for the force in January 2023 and had received training and signed declarations about disclosable associations. She admitted unauthorised access to computer material.

John McCann was sentenced for blackmail after demanding £1,000 using threats of violence. He was found guilty and jailed for five years and six months, with a 10-year restraining order imposed to protect the victim.

Ellie-Mae Doherty, a former Derbyshire Constabulary call handler, accessed confidential police information and passed it to her partner, a man involved in crime. In December 2023 she shared details of an incident in which a window was smashed, and on 6 March 2024 she accessed details about a search warrant and passed them on before checking who was in custody at Ripley custody suite. She joined the force in September 2023 and had completed control room training. She pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office.

Gary Ames was sentenced for causing serious injury by dangerous driving in Walnut Street, Leicester, in January 2026. He received a two-year sentence suspended for two years, with requirements including 200 hours of unpaid work and 20 days on probation programmes.

Ajay Ajay, a factory worker, broke into a Leicester tissue plant on 25 January and used bundles of toilet roll to start a fire, causing more than £1 million of damage and leaving employees without work. CCTV captured a hooded figure leaving the factory and buying fuel at a nearby petrol station; clothing found at his home linked him to the offence. He later handed himself in after discovering officers were looking for him.

Jamie Wallace, a 22-year-old former special constable with Leicestershire Police, admitted making indecent images of children. He pleaded guilty to three counts and was sentenced at Leicester Crown Court. As part of the two-year community order, he must complete 70 hours of unpaid work, undergo a probation programme, pay £150 costs and a £114 victim surcharge. He must also sign the sex offenders register for five years and is subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.

Zayan Lorgat was arrested in October 2024 at his home in Leicester as part of a pre-planned, intelligence-led operation by Counter Terrorism Policing North East, supported by Counter Terrorism Policing East Midlands and Leicestershire Police. Examination of seized digital devices showed he had shared racist, neo-Nazi and antisemitic videos and images in several Telegram chats. The material included graphic videos of extreme right-wing terrorist attacks.

Kwamba was a prison officer at HMP Fosse Way in Leicestershire when she began an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner serving a sentence for county lines drug offending. Between February 24 and June 3 2024 she initiated contact with him 1,367 times while he was at the category C prison. Sexually explicit photographs and messages were later sent on Snapchat after the prisoner was moved to an immigration removal centre. She received payments from members of the prisoner's family.

Zita Sokolova admitted transmitting or causing the transmission of an image by electronic communications from inside HMP Fosse Way between February 24 and June 3 2024. She was in contact with a family member who was a serving prisoner 33 times and sent him money while he was imprisoned.

Venera Sokolova admitted transmitting or causing the transmission of an image by electronic communications from inside HMP Fosse Way between February 24 and June 3 2024. She was in contact with a family member who was a serving prisoner 191 times and sent payments during the same period.

Ryan Clarkson was convicted of multiple child sex offences after a jury at Leicester Crown Court found him guilty. His offending behaviour was reported to have escalated from sexual touching to rape. An investigation was launched in 2022 after several survivors came forward, leading to charges being brought against him. He had denied the charges but was found guilty and sentenced in June 2026.

In January 2023, Rio Carter, then 16, met a 13-year-old girl on Snapchat and invited her to his home in Greedon Rise, Sileby, near Leicester. He persuaded his mother to let her stay overnight, telling the girl to say she was older if asked. In his bedroom they smoked cigarettes and cannabis before having sex. The girl was worried she was pregnant afterwards. Staff at her children's home noticed love bites on her neck; she fled and was later found by police on Carter's bed. Carter denied the offence but pleaded guilty to charges of penetrative sex and sexual activity with a 13-year-old girl on the day his trial was to begin at Leicester Crown Court. He was sentenced on 12 June 2026.

Robin Cockayne, a homeless crack and heroin addict, stole chocolate, coffee, laundry products and alcohol valued at £1,354 from the One Stop shop in Ling Road, Loughborough, between April 23 and May 4, 2026. He had been banned from the store by a court order and had previous convictions for similar thefts from the same shop, resulting in short prison sentences earlier in 2026. He was arrested on May 5, 2026.

John Siddell committed 15 child sex offences (five counts of sexual assault, five counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, four counts of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and one count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity) against three boys in Leicestershire between May 2018 and June 2021. He and his brother James fabricated lies about his health to avoid prosecution for over four years. Both pleaded guilty in September 2025 after the deception was uncovered.

James Siddell, along with his brother John, spent more than four years fabricating lies about John's health conditions to prevent John from facing prosecution for child sex offences. Their deception was uncovered by DC Matt Gibson. Both pleaded guilty in September 2025.

Michael Lawrence first approached a 12-year-old girl at Kettering station during the summer of 2022. Over the next two years, he sent her more than 1,200 messages and voice notes across social media platforms, initially building a friendship before escalating to explicit communication. He admitted having a 'crush' on her, attempted to initiate sexual contact, suggested they could 'be together secretly', and warned her to be cautious about telling her father about him. In one month-long period, he sent 223 messages. The exchanges came to light during a separate police inquiry, leading to his arrest by British Transport Police.

Ryan Lockwood, 23, of Hunts Field Drive, Gretton, committed horrific sexual offences against boys during 2024 and 2025. He admitted two counts of sexual activity with a child, three counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, one count of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, three counts of making indecent photographs of a child, and two counts of taking indecent photographs of a child. Lockwood was employed at Gretton House, a home for adults with Prader-Willi Syndrome, until his arrest, but no victims were connected to the home.

Rahul Singh was driving a red Audi A4 on a provisional licence when he overtook dangerously on the wrong side of the road around a bend and collided with a cyclist riding an e-bike just before midnight on 28 July. The cyclist was taken to hospital with severe life-changing injuries. Singh left the scene but later returned and admitted he was the driver; he was found to be over the drink-drive limit. CCTV, phone analysis and forensic investigation linked him to the collision.

Chloe May, 24, from Oakham Drive, Coalville, was evicted from Jaylets Motel in Loughborough Road, Hathern, near Loughborough, after causing £450 of damage while staying there due to homelessness. In July 2023, she falsely alleged to Leicestershire Police that she was anally raped by a male guest while the female hotel manager and another man held her down, put a cloth over her mouth, and forced her face into a pillow. The false complaint led to police raids and arrests of the three victims in early September 2023. The alibis were supported by CCTV and other evidence, resulting in no further action. May persisted with the lie during her police interview in November 2023, showing no remorse. She was influenced by an abusive partner and was struggling with drugs and mental health issues at the time.

Scott Hastings, 43, contacted undercover police officers posing as men offering their underage daughters for sexual abuse via the Chatiw app in May 2022. In the first incident, he attempted to arrange sex with a fictitious daughter without discussing age. A week later, he contacted another officer pretending to be a paedophile with a seven-year-old daughter, expressing intent to commit various sexual offences against her and planning to meet the following weekend. He was arrested at his home in Leicestershire before the meeting. Additional indecent images of children were found on his phone. He has since moved to Willington Road in Etwall, Derbyshire.

Shaun Thornton, 54, of Highfield Drive, Wigston, was visiting his self-storage unit in Leicester in July 2024 when he took out a .22 calibre gas-powered air rifle with a telescopic sight. He called to a nine-year-old girl, the daughter of a friend who was with him, and when she turned to face him, the rifle discharged. The pellet went through her skull and halfway into her brain, causing a life-threatening injury. The girl collapsed with blood coming from her head and was rushed to Leicester Royal Infirmary before being transferred to Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham for a five-hour surgery to remove the pellet and bone fragments. She has suffered ongoing trauma including mood swings, PTSD, temporary blindness, pain, low self-esteem from scars, absence episodes, and a change from her bubbly personality.