Preston Crown Court Sentencing Results

In August 2024 in Blackpool, Ryan Mann attacked a police officer with a brick as he resisted arrest. Officers had found him in the town; he attempted to flee down a back alley and, while grappling with police, picked up a brick and struck the officer on the head. The officer required hospital treatment for a head injury and later reported increased anxiety and headaches. Mann was caught on camera and apologised for his behaviour.

Ryan McNair was part of a five-man gang convicted of conspiracy to steal vehicles in the Lancashire and Merseyside region between January and November 2025. The gang used relay devices to bypass vehicle security and stole cars, vans and motorbikes.

On the evening of 29 December 2025, Mycah Wilson argued with his partner after a saucepan fell from a cupboard at her home. He refused to leave, slapped and punched her, knocked her onto a sofa, and continued hitting her. When she struck him with an ashtray in self-defence, he pulled her to the floor, covered her face with her hooded jumper, wrapped his arm around her neck and said he would kill her. She could not breathe for about a minute and thought she was going to die. He later took three knives from the kitchen and sat on the sofa saying anyone who came through the door would be killed. The victim suffered injuries to her lip, hands, arm, knee, face and neck, and described flashbacks, nightmares and difficulty trusting people.

Samuel McConkie ran amok in the Grey Friar pub in Preston on the evening of 28 February 2026. He chased a female member of staff around the pub with a beer glass, climbed onto the bar, shouted threats including 'Do you know who I am?', claimed to be a member of an organised crime group, made a gun gesture at the manager, and threatened a drive-by shooting and to have a car driven through the pub window. He made homophobic and racist remarks to staff, threatened to slit one woman's throat, took off his shirt and helped himself to drinks behind the bar. The incident lasted about half an hour until police arrived and he surrendered after being targeted with tasers. The offence took place five days after he received a suspended sentence for other violent matters, and he had 69 previous offences.

James McKeown was part of a five-man gang convicted of conspiracy to steal vehicles in the Lancashire and Merseyside region between January and November 2025. The gang used relay devices to bypass vehicle security and stole cars, vans and motorbikes. He also pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and handling stolen goods.

Jason Miller was part of a five-man gang convicted of conspiracy to steal vehicles in the Lancashire and Merseyside region between January and November 2025. The gang used relay devices to bypass vehicle security and stole cars, vans and motorbikes. Miller drove a stolen Jaguar E Pace during a police pursuit after it was spotted on cloned registration plates and later boasted about the incident on Snapchat. He also pleaded guilty to dangerous driving.

Jayden Cammock was driving an Audi S4 north on the A5087 Coast Road near Priors Lea in Rampside when he overtook several vehicles and collided with a Volkswagen UP that was turning into a parking area. A 19-year-old passenger in the Volkswagen died at the scene; the driver sustained serious injuries and was airlifted to hospital. Cammock's passenger had minor injuries.

John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, was convicted at Preston Crown Court of allowing the death of a child. The child had been adopted at nine months and was subjected to sexual and physical abuse before dying on 27 April 2023 after a sexual assault four months later.

Kenneth Booth sexually abused girls and was convicted of multiple sexual offences, including indecent assault, gross indecency on a girl under 14, assault by penetration on a girl under 13, causing or inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity, assault by touching, and sexual assault on a female.

Kevin Hardwick, a prisoner at HMP Kirkham, used a smuggled phone to pose as a 14-year-old boy and groom a 12-year-old girl. He sent sexualised messages, researched child grooming and social media platforms for children. He also communicated with at least one decoy he believed was a child. He was charged with possession of a specified item in a prison, attempting sexual communications with a child, sexual communications with a child, and inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity including penetration.

Jordan Gorman drove a van dangerously through Blackpool while trying to evade police on July 3. He drove on the wrong side of the road, crossed a mini-roundabout, and reached speeds of more than 55mph in 30mph zones. At the end of the pursuit he deliberately rammed a police car, causing around £10,000 damage. He had a passenger in the van at the time.

Melczarek became obsessed with a woman after a casual relationship and carried out a prolonged stalking campaign after she broke it off. He bombarded her with messages, turned up uninvited at her home and her child's school, created a WhatsApp group to humiliate her, and contacted her ex-partner. After she reported him to police, he made a two-hour phone call demanding she withdraw her statement. He was convicted of stalking and witness intimidation after trial and repeatedly failed to surrender to court, delaying the case for years.

Louis Holloway, a 32-year-old scaffolder, was originally given an 18-month prison sentence suspended for two years in February for possessing cannabis with intent to supply, with requirements including 100 hours of unpaid work, 20 rehabilitation days and an eight-month electronic curfew. He breached the order in June and his curfew was extended. He later failed to attend two unpaid work sessions in July. On 5 August he cut off his GPS ankle tag to go on a stag party abroad, fearing he would be stopped at airport security; he had no written authorisation to travel. His probation officer said overall compliance had been good, and the judge imposed an additional four-month curfew requiring him to remain at home between 7pm and 6am, replacing the unpaid work requirement.

Lisa Croft participated in telephone calls from prison with Ryan Wellings, providing witness coaching advice such as to show emotion, express regret, mention self-defence, and attribute arguments to the victim's mental health issues.

Levi Wilson went to the victim's home at about 5pm on October 31 last year, let himself in, went upstairs and charged towards the 36-year-old victim. He punched the victim repeatedly in the face, causing multiple facial fractures to the jaw, eye socket, cheek and nose. The victim was taken to hospital and required corrective surgery.

Mathew Gilkes, a former teacher, was arrested after being seen taking covert photographs of children in a leisure centre changing room on 1 August 2024. Over 80 electronic devices were recovered containing over 5,000 indecent images and videos of children, including upskirting offences. He had also used fake social media accounts to groom girls under 16. He pleaded guilty on 12 November 2025.

Matthew Brown attended an anti-immigration protest on Blackpool seafront on 21 March 2026. CCTV showed him at the front encouraging fighting during a flare-up among protesters, and police identified him as the main instigator. He was intoxicated, staggering and slurring his speech, refused to give his details, and threatened to assault a police officer during arrest. He had been given a suspended sentence at Preston Crown Court the previous year for offences including assault causing actual bodily harm and sharing an intimate image. Hours after that hearing he committed a further drunk and disorderly offence in Preston and later failed to surrender to bail on 1 May. He pleaded guilty to being drunk and disorderly at the demonstration.

Mark Klein, 59, formerly of St Michael’s Court, Blackburn, breached his Sexual Offences Prevention Order (imposed in 2013) twice: in April 2025, police found the Snapchat app on his phone during a visit to his home; in March 2026, while on court bail, he refused to show officers his phone but it was found in his flat and had been used shortly before.

Sumner attacked a householder in Blackpool after the householder discovered cash and a bank card missing from his coat following a night when Sumner and others had been at his home. Sumner went to the house with another man and the householder was punched and struck several times while sitting on the sofa. He was left with a wound to his forehead and injured hands. Sumner pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm.