Newcastle Crown Court Sentencing Results

Jonathon Ridley, 34, set fire to his upstairs council flat in a block of four on Mardale Gardens, Gateshead, on October 23, 2025. The fire was started deliberately with a naked flame applied to furniture and furnishings in the living room behind the front door, causing damage to the base of a seat and the floor, with total cost of £1,485. Fire service forced entry after being told he was still inside and quickly extinguished the fire.

Tygue Crowther, 36, of Cleckheaton, used social media under an alias to share racist and antisemitic views, Nazi propaganda, and attempted to recruit others to set up a neo-Nazi group.

On August 26, around 12.20pm, Steven Taylor was seen walking naked along Stepney Road, Shieldfield, Newcastle, talking to himself agitatedly and going through bins at a pizza shop. He was arrested and bailed. Three days later, around 10pm in Sandyford, Newcastle, he was again seen walking naked on the street, speaking incoherently, and caused damage in a police car after being detained. The 44-year-old, of no fixed address, has 289 previous convictions including 173 for theft but none for sexual offences. He was mentally unwell due to changed accommodation leading to daily drug and alcohol abuse, negatively impacting his psychosis medication.

Kieron Lewis, 33, and his wife Rebecca Bowey, 25, from Houghton-le-Spring, Sunderland, committed multiple sexual offences against two children over a number of years. Northumbria Police's POLIT department uncovered evidence starting from an investigation in October 2022. The offences included sexual assault by touching, sexual exploitation of a child, voyeurism, and possession of indecent images.

On the morning of November 17, 2025, John Maughan, 49, of Lynemouth Cottages, Morpeth, entered a Nisa store on Durham Road, Birtley, Gateshead, purchased tape, and then taped an empty petrol can with a clock attached to a lamppost outside the shop as a 'stupid joke'. Staff noticed the device, which resembled an explosive, leading to panic and a police call. A 100m cordon was established, residents were evacuated to a local leisure centre, and an army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team used a robot to perform a controlled explosion, confirming it was not viable. The shop closed from 9am to 4pm, losing £2,000 in takings. Police tracked Maughan's Ford Transit van to Jesmond, arrested him, and found matching tape in the vehicle. CCTV confirmed his actions. The incident occurred during Monday morning rush hour, paralysing the area near the A1.

Rebecca Bowey, 25, and her husband Kieron Lewis, 33, from Houghton-le-Spring, Sunderland, committed multiple sexual offences against two children over a number of years. Northumbria Police's POLIT department uncovered evidence starting from an investigation in October 2022. The offences included inciting a child to engage in a sexual act, causing a child to watch a sexual act, and possession of indecent images.

On January 26, 2026, police raided a property on Richard Street in Hetton-le-Hole after a drone detected excessive heat indicating a cannabis farm. They discovered a large-scale commercial operation with multiple grow rooms across three floors in a residential property. Jetmir Serjanaj, an illegal immigrant, was found inside helping to look after the operation by watering the plants. He gave no comment but provided a statement claiming limited involvement and no knowledge of ownership.

George Laidler, 78, of Warwick Terrace, Sunderland, engaged in depraved online conversations offering money to view sexual abuse of babies and very young children overseas, particularly in Africa and Ghana. In one chat, he requested to see sexual activity involving a six-year-old and discussed a sex act on a 'baby boy' but deemed nine years old as 'too old'. The conversations were exposed when a secret phone, which he failed to declare as a registered sex offender, was found at a bail hostel. The phone also contained a child abuse video and an extreme pornography image.

Jonis Marku was caught maintaining a cannabis farm with 74 plants worth up to £15,000 at a house on Princess Street in Sunderland. He had been there for two months, feeding and watering the plants, after entering the UK illegally hoping to improve his personal circumstances. He was discovered after police stopped a vehicle on January 4, 2025, containing two Albanian men, one with £14,000 cash linked to the farm.

On July 3, 2025, Peter Smith, 37, of Priory Grange, Blyth, rode a stolen motorbike at excessive speeds, ignoring police pursuit starting on Plessey Road, Blyth. He mounted footpaths, crossed football fields, reached over 100mph on the A189, overtook and undertook other vehicles, rode on a cycle track near Cramlington High School, then abandoned the bike and fled in a taxi. He has 72 prior convictions including drink driving and assault, and was on a suspended sentence.

Wayne Mooney, aged 17 at the time, conspired to burgle and steal high-value cars, passing on details of a home on Kenton Avenue, Gosforth, Newcastle, including a BMW, leading to an attempted break-in on October 6, 2025. He also attempted four burglaries and interfered with two motor vehicles in Kingston Park on September 29, 2025. Police found videos on his phone showing him driving dangerously, including a Mini Cooper at 100mph while disqualified. He was arrested shortly after the October 10, 2025, stop of a stolen car linked to him.

Edwin Taha, previously deported twice from the UK, illegally re-entered the country between November 10, 2025, and January 18, 2026, in breach of his deportation order. He claimed he returned to see his terminally ill grandmother with cancer before her death and to sign his son's birth certificate, as his 19-month-old son and partner live in the UK but plan to relocate to France. He was arrested on January 18, 2026, and did not commit further offences during this time. Taha has 16 prior convictions, including drugs and violence offences.

Stuart Hansen, 41, of Honeysuckle Avenue, South Shields, subjected two women to controlling and violent behaviour. The first relationship was from 2022 until May 2024, involving jealousy, dictating clothing, locking her in a log cabin, pushing her to the floor, threats to kill, physical violence including pulling hair, pushing, punching, spitting, throwing a house key at her face injuring her eye, following her aggressively while driving, accusing her of infidelity and punching her in the face in May 2023, dragging her by the hair, striking her head, biting her face and lip, and covering her mouth in July 2023. After the relationship ended, he threatened her employer. While on bail, he began a relationship in December 2024 with a second woman, monitoring her phone, isolating her from family and friends, pouring drink over her head, falsely insinuating disposing of her late mother's hair, biting her lip at Ramside, throwing a beaker of liquid and dragging her around the house when late from bingo, biting her hand the next morning, launching a violent attack on Father's Day punching her head and body, picking her up by the neck, delivering blows to her ribs, and later applying a rear choke hold and poking her sore ribs. The second victim reported feeling like a shell of herself with flashbacks, self-harm, and trust issues.

On November 27, 2025, Mathew Frater, 45, of Galashiels Road in Sunderland, was driving in Newcastle City Centre on St James' Boulevard. Officers observed him aggressively pull away at traffic lights with wheels spinning and hard braking. He was stopped on Pitt Street where his eyes were glazed and he smelled of intoxicating liquor, leading officers to believe he was drunk. Arrested and taken to a police station, he repeatedly and deliberately failed to blow properly into the breathalyser machine, resulting in re-arrest for failing to provide a specimen of breath.

On August 13, 2025, Tequilla King, 25, of Harlow Place, Heaton, entered the Premier shop on Newton Road, Heaton, Newcastle, despite being previously banned. After being asked to leave, she swore at staff, pulled out a knife, and made repeated threats to stab the manager. Customers and staff fled in panic upon seeing the blade. She smashed up the shop, damaged parcels, and swiped the knife at the manager as he protected the till behind the Post Office screen, coming extremely close to contact. She twice tried to access the till. Police arrived eight minutes later and arrested her; she continued threats even after arrest. A female staff member reported feeling unsafe and concerned for the manager's safety.

Harry Farrer participated in widespread violent disorder in Sunderland city centre on August 2, 2024, involving 'far right' protestors. Police came under sustained attack, turning the area into a no-go zone for the public. Footage showed Farrer behind a line of riot police where he picked up a plant and soil from a plant pot and threw it, striking the back of an officer's helmet. The riot caused community disruption, injuries to officers, and a £1.5m claim by Northumbria Police to the Home Office.

On July 28, 2024, Maddie Kirby, then 18, was in The Mushroom Bar in Newcastle city centre when she lashed out at a stranger celebrating his engagement, striking him with a glass bottle she took from his back pocket while his back was turned. This caused a deep laceration to his forehead requiring stitches under local anaesthetic, leaving him scarred and traumatised. She was intoxicated at the time and offered no explanation in interview beyond not knowing the victim. The incident was captured on CCTV and was a single blow after which she desisted.

Tyler Crowther, 36, from Cleckheaton, was arrested in June 2024. Officers recovered digital devices during a house search which contained a library of terrorist publications. He had publicly shared extreme right-wing views, Nazi propaganda and instructional material that could assist terrorism, and attempted to set up his own right-wing neo-Nazi group using an alias on social media to share racist and antisemitic views. He pleaded guilty to 1 count of encouragement of terrorism (Section 1 Terrorism Act 2006), 1 count of dissemination of a terrorist publication (Section 2 Terrorism Act 2006) and 6 counts of possession of documents likely to be useful to a terrorist (Section 58 Terrorism Act 2000).

Ryan Scott, 28, formerly of Chasedale Crescent, Cowpen, Blyth, drove uninsured at 114mph on A19 in North Tyneside in dark pouring rain, accelerating hard, hitting Claire Laybourne's car at 88mph despite emergency braking after she overtook a broken-down vehicle returning from a theatre trip with her mum. Claire died from fatal injuries; her mum was badly hurt. Scott fled on foot cowardly.

On an evening in June 2025, Dean Chalmers was seen by CCTV operators lying on the ground behind a council vehicle in Manors Car Park, Newcastle, masturbating in plain view. Several members of the public entered and left the car park and could easily have seen him. He continued lying on the ground with his penis exposed until security officers arrived and spoke to him. He believed he was concealed but was horrified when discovered.

Christopher Gilby, a 43-year-old registered sex offender from Washington, Tyne and Wear, was sentenced for failing to comply with his sex offender registration requirements and breaching a sexual harm prevention order. During a routine police visit in September 2023, officers found a receipt for a computer he had not declared. Gilby claimed he had sold it, but investigations showed he continued to visit a repair shop under a false name. In December 2023, a police sniffer dog located the hidden computer in a concealed compartment built into his bed frame at his home, along with a hard drive and SD cards. No new inappropriate content was found, but he had failed to declare the device once it was operational. He also admitted possessing a flick knife found at the property.