Nottingham Crown Court Sentencing Results

Michael Cooper, a former Detective Chief Inspector with Derbyshire Constabulary, was driving an unmarked police car on 28 September 2021 when he struck two pedestrians, killing a man and seriously injuring a woman. He had been on a mobile phone call shortly before the impact and accelerated from 20 mph to 29 mph before veering towards the kerb. The vehicle struck a parked car, mounted the pavement and hit a woman, then struck a man who was standing behind his vehicle. Cooper said he had suffered a blackout and could not remember the incident, but he accepted it was dangerous for him to drive given his history of blackouts and his failure to notify the DVLA, despite medical advice to do so. An IOPC investigation also found he had used the police vehicle for private purposes on multiple occasions without logging the journeys.

Wayne Sykes failed to appear at court earlier in the week and was sought by police on 11 June. When officers located him near East Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, he refused to stop and drove towards Newton before mounting a grass verge at the Bridgford Street roundabout and attempting to enter the A46 dual carriageway in the wrong direction towards oncoming traffic. Officers used tactical contact to strike the rear of his Vauxhall Insignia, causing it to spin. Sykes tried to reverse away but was boxed in by police vehicles; an officer smashed a window and he was arrested. He appeared before Nottingham Crown Court on 12 June and admitted dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance.

Jamie Simpson used a drone to drop a package of cannabis resin, deal bags, larger bags of cannabis, and a mobile phone into HMP Lowdham Grange on September 5, 2023. He was arrested after a van linked to the incursion was stopped in the Daybrook area. A rucksack containing a drone, drone controller, cannabis resin, pills and two burner phones was found in the van, and his fingerprints were later found on items in the package recovered from the prison.

Reece Dhaliwal used a drone to drop a package of cannabis resin, deal bags, larger bags of cannabis, and a mobile phone into HMP Lowdham Grange on September 5, 2023. He was arrested after a van linked to the incursion was stopped in the Daybrook area. A rucksack containing a drone, drone controller, cannabis resin, pills and two burner phones was found in the van, and his fingerprints were later found on items in the package recovered from the prison.

On 18 October 2025 at around 8:30 am, Nomazwe Moyo, 35, of Broxtowe, was driving her Vauxhall Mokka at approximately 60 mph in a 30 mph zone along Nuthall Road and A610 Bobbers Mill Bridge in Nottingham. She was dangerously overtaking vehicles, forcing an off-duty police officer to take evasive action, and clipped the wing mirror of another car before crashing into the back of the victim’s moped. The collision knocked the victim into oncoming traffic, killing him instantly. Moyo’s car did not stop; she continued and crashed into the back of a taxi, then veered into oncoming traffic, narrowly missing a bus stop and causing other drivers to swerve, before a head-on collision with a fourth vehicle, where she was arrested. Moyo had been advised by her doctor seven months earlier not to drive for 12 months due to epilepsy and to inform the DVLA, though no evidence of a seizure at the time. She initially claimed no memory of the fatal crash but after seeing CCTV admitted excessive speed. She pleaded guilty in February 2026 to causing death by dangerous driving and driving while uninsured.

Cole Lee, 23, accompanied his brother Ben Lee to visit victims and demand payment for the fraudulent roofing scheme. He acquired £37,450 in criminal proceeds from one victim. He pleaded guilty to acquiring criminal property.

Michelle Fox laundered money for the fraud gang by depositing £16,413 in cash into her bank accounts between August 2021 and November 2022, knowing it represented criminal proceeds. She was arrested in Nottingham on 21 December 2022 and pleaded guilty.

Stephen O'Rourke assisted the fraud by providing his name for victims to make cheques payable to, leading to over £143,000 being paid into his bank accounts. He knowingly converted criminal proceeds by purchasing seven Rolex watches with the money. Police later seized the watches.

On 3 April 2025, police were called to Cornwall Road, Daybrook, Nottingham, following reports of a street altercation. A man in his 20s was stabbed in the chest and required emergency surgery for a collapsed lung. Marshall Williams-Handley, aged 21, was identified as the attacker. He and the victim were known to each other and had a dispute over drugs. Williams-Handley produced a knife and stabbed the victim. The following day, officers seized clothing he wore during the fight and found wraps of Class A drugs and a dealer list at a property in Daybrook. He was arrested and later convicted.

Asa Ord sexually assaulted a young girl. Damning medical and forensic evidence gathered in September 2025 enabled officers to secure three charges. Ord originally denied any wrongdoing in his police interview, but eventually pleaded guilty during an appearance at Nottingham Crown Court on 12 February 2026. He was sentenced on 19 May 2026.

Neil Wilson, of Mansfield, manipulated an extremely vulnerable 12-year-old autistic girl with learning difficulties, asking her for a 'special video' and to call him 'Daddy'. She did not comply but had sent indecent images to other sex offenders. He also engaged in sexual chat with an undercover police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl in December 2023, asking for naughty pictures. Police found 103 indecent images of children (pre-teen to young teenagers) and extreme pornography on his phones.

Between February and October 2025, Nigel Jackson, 57, subjected a woman to months of controlling and coercive behaviour in Nottingham, restricting her movements, finances, and access to her mobile phone. The abuse escalated to a knife attack in August 2025 in which he strangled her, causing serious injuries including loss of consciousness and deep defensive wounds. He was arrested after the attack, denied the allegations, and remained silent in police interviews. Following a trial in April 2026, he was sentenced on 7 May 2026.

Cherno Jagne, a 49-year-old accountancy graduate and taxi driver from Strelley, Nottingham, provided passport photos, payment and documentation to a serious organised crime group to facilitate the illegal entry of his cousin from Gambia into Manchester Airport. The offences occurred between late 2022 and early 2023. He initially believed it was legitimate but continued after realising it was illegal. He had been in custody on remand for six months prior to sentencing.

David Kent, aged 43, of Jacksdale, came to the attention of the Road Crime Team at around 7.40 pm on Christmas Eve when his VW Caddy van was flagged as a vehicle of interest. Officers attempted to stop him on Alfreton Road, but he led them on an eight-minute high-speed pursuit, driving at more than twice the speed limit, entering a 30 mph zone at around 90 mph, and recklessly overtaking vehicles. He lost control attempting a right-hand turn at the junction of Stoney Lane and Mansfield Road, crashing into a garden fence. He was arrested and later explained he was heading home from a darts competition.

Mason Raynor, 37, of Edwinstowe, stalked a woman between 15 December 2025 and 16 January 2026, causing serious alarm or distress. Despite being subject to a restraining order and a non-molestation order, he continued to contact the victim through handwritten letters, Christmas and birthday cards, phone calls, and text messages, including one card sent while in custody. The victim had blocked phone numbers but still received unwanted contact. He also breached two suspended sentence orders imposed on 20 November 2025 and 7 January 2026.

Anthony Kimberley, 59, stabbed his 39-year-old son three times in the garden of his home in Forest Town, Mansfield, at about 9.30pm on August 2, 2025, following an argument about his grandchildren. The victim suffered wounds to his chest and arm, with the chest injury puncturing the membrane around his heart; he collapsed in the street and required intensive care treatment.

Jamie Smith, a 31-year-old prisoner at HMP Lowdham Grange, attacked prison officers during a hospital visit to Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham on 9 January 2025 for treatment to a hand injury. After an X-ray, he became agitated when officers attempted to handcuff him, threatened them, and lunged at one officer with an improvised weapon (a toothbrush with a blade attached), slashing him behind the ear. He then headbutted and bit a second officer before slashing him on the back of the neck. He was restrained with help from hospital security.

Jae Wynter Merrin, 27, of Basford, Nottingham, engaged in a campaign of domestic abuse against a woman he had known for 15 years since school. In 2025, after a chance meeting in Nottingham city centre, they began a relationship and he moved into her home. He soon exhibited controlling behaviour, going through her phone and becoming physical most days, repeatedly strangling her to the point she could barely breathe, apologising, then repeating the abuse. On one occasion, after she returned from drinks with her mother while he was under the influence of drugs, he strangled her for around three hours. He forbade gifts from her family. After she became pregnant and ended the relationship, he stalked her, appearing on her dog walking route and on September 17, 2025, banging on her door. In an alleyway, he threatened to kill her, her friend inside, and the unborn baby, admitting he had two knives, stabbing a fence two inches from her, and placing a blade between her lips while reiterating the threats.