Reading Crown Court Sentencing Results

Andrew Francis broke into the home of a 91-year-old victim in Cedar Terrace, High Wycombe, on 19 November 2022, to steal money for drugs. He assaulted the victim, leaving him unconscious and unable to call for help, and stole an unknown amount of money and jewellery. The victim died a week later in hospital as a result of his injuries. Francis was arrested on 24 November 2022 and assaulted a police officer while in custody.

On August 30, 2022, Riaz Miah was involved in the murder of the victim, 24, from Slough, by stabbing him in the chest in Keel Drive. The victim was taken to hospital but later died. Miah was also involved in drug supply activities.

On August 30, 2022, Hassan Al-Kubanji and others murdered the victim, 24, from Slough, by stabbing him in the chest in Keel Drive. The victim was taken to hospital but later died from his injuries.

Kirkpatrick Virgo, 42, killed the victim, 24, by striking him once on the back of the head with a horseshoe after an argument over loud music from a boombox on an Elizabeth line train. The incident occurred at Reading Station on July 30, following a football match between Arsenal and Sevilla. Virgo boarded the train at Slough with friends, playing loud music, which led to a verbal disagreement. He followed the victim off the train and attacked him as he walked away, then was chased and tackled by the victim's brother before being separated by security.

Hakeem Kigundu, a resident of Rowe Court in Reading, Berkshire, set fire to the building on December 15 as an act of revenge after losing his job and facing eviction the next day. He conspired to kill his neighbours, resulting in the deaths of two victims, and injuries to a male victim, who suffered third-degree burns, and a female victim, who sustained a punctured lung and multiple fractures.

Donald Robertson murdered the victim, a 26-year-old woman from Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, in April 1987. He assaulted, strangled, and threw her into Taplow Lake, where her body was found bound and gagged. The crime was linked to him through new DNA evidence from a cold case investigation. Additionally, he was convicted of kidnapping and raping a 16-year-old girl in July 1981, and had a history of similar offences, including raping a 14-year-old girl shortly after his release from police custody in 1981.

Lynda Rickard forged the wills of the victim and his mother, then deliberately starved the victim to death at High Havens Farm in South Newington, Oxfordshire, in March 2014, to inherit part of the victim's £3.5 million fortune. She had been paid £47,000 a year to care for the victim's mother until her death in 2012 and misused tens of thousands of pounds for her family's lifestyle, including private school fees.

Shohfah-El Israel murdered 20-year-old midwifery student the victim in December 2018 after spending two nights alone with her in his Cricklewood flat, violating strict church rules of the Israel United in Christ Church in Ilford, east London. He lied to police about dropping her off at her Hatfield accommodation after a church dinner on December 26, later admitting the stay but claiming it was to avoid church sanctions. After the killing, he removed her from a church Telegram group, pretended to check on her at her student house, and drove to the Stevenage area on December 28 where a signal from her phone was detected, likely to dispose of the body. Her accommodation keys were found in his car after his February arrest. He denied any sexual relationship, claiming he saw her as a daughter, and said she wanted to leave the church, though fellow members were shocked as she had recently praised it as her best family. Her body has never been found despite extensive searches in Hertfordshire.

Robert Brown, a British Airways captain, bludgeoned his 46-year-old wife to death with a claw hammer in their family home in October 2010 as their two young children cowered in a playroom. He dumped her body in a makeshift coffin in Windsor Great Park and was involved in obstructing a coroner in the execution of his duty.

Mark Alexander, then aged 22 and a law student, killed his 70-year-old father, the victim, in September 2010 in a bid to escape his controlling influence. He buried the body in concrete in the garden of their family home in Drayton Parslow, Buckinghamshire, and was subsequently convicted.

In the early hours of 6 September last year, Sinclair rang 999 to confess he had killed his girlfriend the victim at her home in Blossom Lane, Theale. Police found the victim with severe stab wounds to her neck and chest. Despite desperate attempts to save her, she was pronounced dead at the scene.

On 12 October 2018, Mark Whittaker drove from Portsmouth to Reading and waited on Northumberland Avenue. When the victim cycled past at 5.20am, Whittaker deliberately mounted the pavement and struck him at over 30mph, sending him through metal railings. Whittaker then kicked, punched, stamped on, and tried to strangle the victim, who suffered compound fractures to both femurs, deep leg wounds, and required skin grafts and surgery. Police found threatening texts indicating premeditation. Whittaker admitted the attack was deliberate upon arrest.

Laurens Brand murdered his wife the victim in their home on Parker Close, Shinfield, on Boxing Day. He stabbed her 59 times in the neck and chest, causing instant death. He then called the police without requesting an ambulance and attempted to clean up the scene before making the call. He pleaded guilty to murder at Reading Crown Court on 22 March.

On 12 April 2017, at around 10.20pm, Kapil Dogra grabbed a woman in her late teens as she left Datchet railway station. He dragged her to a wooded area near the junction of Major Farms Road, Ditton Road, and London Road, where he raped and sexually assaulted her. Dogra admitted in court that he was in the area to buy Class A drugs. He was arrested on 18 April 2017 and charged the following day. The trial lasted five days, ending on 2 October.

Jonathan Goldsmith, 52, of Whitchurch Hill, Oxfordshire, was found guilty of seven counts of rape involving three women and one count of blackmail following a trial at Reading Crown Court. He raped one victim at knifepoint in a car in London in 2002. He subjected another woman, whom he first met in Oxford, to multiple rapes between 2005 and 2019. He met his third victim on a dating site in 2014, attacked and raped her, leaving her injured.

Jordan Adewale, 23, raped a 19-year-old woman while she was sleepwalking in a property in Burnham just after 1am on 7 February 2017. The victim had gone to bed but sleepwalked into the kitchen, where Adewale brutally raped her while she was unconscious. She woke up and raised the alarm. Adewale was arrested at the scene but denied the crime. Forensic evidence was overwhelming.