Sheffield Crown Court Sentencing Results

Graham Marshall, 39, forced his partner to engage in a range of sex acts with their pet pug at their Sheffield home, driven by his perverted sexual fantasies. He filmed the acts and shared images with the victim on TikTok. The abuse involved coercion and occurred over a long period.

John Staveley, aged 55, sexually abused two boys over a decade from the late 1990s, exploiting his roles as a teacher and football coach. The offences included nine counts of gross indecency with a boy under 14, two counts of indecent assault on a boy under 16, and one count of causing or inciting a boy under 13 to engage in sexual activity. The first victim reported the crimes in 2020, leading to an investigation with witness statements and social media evidence.

Farhad Salah, a 24-year-old Iraqi Kurd and Isis supporter, plotted a martyrdom operation using a remote-controlled vehicle with an improvised explosive device to harm others he considered infidels while sparing his own life. He was in the early stages of testing small devices and had messaged contacts about his plans a week before his arrest in December 2017. Unable to travel to the Middle East due to his unsettled asylum status, he grew increasingly desperate to act for Isis. He was in communication with other extremists and viewed sickening violent imagery.

On 4 August 2024, Levi Fishlock, aged 31 from Sheffield Road in Barnsley, participated in riots outside the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, used for asylum seekers. Wearing a distinctive purple England football shirt with 'Bellingham' on the back, he added planks of wood to a wheelie bin fire next to the hotel, helped build and set fire to barricades, threw bricks and paving slabs at windows, destroyed fencing and an air-conditioning unit, made threatening gestures with a sharp object towards asylum seekers inside, and later attacked police vehicles with rocks. Over 200 asylum seekers were trapped upstairs as the rioters intended to endanger lives. Hotel staff barricaded themselves in a panic room fearing death from smoke. After arrest, he admitted knowing why he was detained and called it 'for a good cause'. The violence injured 64 police officers, three horses, and a dog.

Neil King, aged 51, sexually abused two teenage girls in Rotherham in the 2000s. The victims were friends who came into contact with King after social services placed one girl with his then on-off partner (now deceased). King used his position of trust and influence to offer the girls gifts, money, sometimes alcohol and drugs, grooming them for sexual abuse including rape and attempted rape.

On 22 March 2024, Michael Donaldson, 56, accosted Ed Miliband MP on a street in Doncaster and shouted death threats at him and his two members of staff. The MP and staff were left shaken and quickly left the area. Donaldson was arrested later that day and continued to make offensive comments about the MP.

Peter Lynch was at the front of a mob that gathered outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham on August 4, 2024, housing asylum seekers. He shouted 'scum' and 'child killers' at police, screamed 'you are protecting people who are killing our kids and raping them', and 'protect my children'. He held a placard asserting corruption of MPs, judges, the media, and police. Body-worn camera footage showed him challenging officers as they pushed him back with shields. The rioting left 64 police officers injured, as well as four dogs and a horse.

Michael Whitehead (27) shouted ‘You’re not fit to wear the badge’ at police officers and chanted to the mob ‘Let’s go fxxxxxx mental, Let’s go fxxxxxx mental’ during the disorder at the Holiday Inn Rotherham.

Colin McNeil, 46, from Leeds, operated two websites that spread far-right propaganda and encouraged terrorism, featuring racist documents, images, and videos glorifying Hitler, the Nazis, and prominent Neo-Nazis. The sites honoured men who committed racist mass killings, including Brenton Tarrant, who murdered 51 people in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019. McNeil did not create the material but provided a platform for it, reaching an audience inclined towards terrorism. Evidence showed engagement by Payton Gendron, who murdered 10 people in Buffalo, USA in 2022. McNeil benefited financially from donations and expressed his own racist views. One site had 5,716 members with 255,960 photos and 6,499 videos; the other had 12,345 members and 79,284 videos, with a $50 pro upgrade option.

Anesu Blessing Samuriwo, alongside Rovin Mavunga, operated an illegal money lending business from around December 2018 until their arrest in 2020. They used social media apps like Snapchat to target vulnerable borrowers needing money for basic necessities, offering short-term high-interest loans (typically just under 100% interest) ranging from £50 to £100, totalling around £120,000 to approximately 130 borrowers. They charged extortionate interest rates and late payment penalties, using threats and intimidation including threats to burn down a borrower's house and kill him, demanding £7,000 including £4,000 interest. Phone records showed banking transactions and messages indicating loan provision. After Mavunga's arrest in March 2020, Samuriwo continued the enterprise with increased transactions.

Ricky Collins, a Network Rail Manager overseeing a rail upgrade of the Midlands Mainline, conspired in the theft of stockpiled rail by passing locations to Jaspreet Oberoi via third parties. This took place on thirty-six occasions from May to November 2016 at locations including Kettering, Market Harborough, Derby, Burton-on-Trent and Braybrooke.

Dean Tonks conspired with others in the stealing of rail from Network Rail trackside and depot locations in the East of England on eighty-nine occasions between March and November 2016.

Jaspreet Oberoi, director of JSJ Metal Recycling Ltd, conspired with others to steal rail from Network Rail trackside and depot locations in the East of England on eighty-nine occasions between March and November 2016. He also conspired in a second theft involving thirty-six occasions from May to November 2016 at locations including Kettering, Market Harborough, Derby, Burton-on-Trent and Braybrooke, passing locations via third parties from Ricky Collins. The stolen rail was transported to his scrap metal business for profit.

Lee Clark, who ran his own haulage company based on JSJ Metal Recycling Ltd premises, conspired in the theft of rail from Network Rail trackside and depot locations in the East of England on eighty-nine occasions between March and November 2016. He also participated in a second conspiracy involving thirty-six occasions from May to November 2016, attending locations to load stolen rail onto lorries for transport to JSJ Metal Recycling Ltd.

Al-Tahery Al-Mashriky, 26, from Rotherham, hacked into websites of organisations across America, Yemen, and Israel, stealing login details of millions of people. He was linked to the extremist hacker group Yemen Cyber Army through social media and email accounts. Forensic analysis revealed he infiltrated sites including the Yemen Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yemen Ministry of Security Media, an Israeli news outlet, faith websites in Canada and the USA, and the California State Water Board. In February 2022, he hacked into Israeli Live News, accessing admin pages and downloading the entire website. He also targeted two Yemeni government websites, deploying tools to scan for usernames and vulnerabilities. He created hidden webpages with his online monikers and messaging furthering his religious and political ideology. He possessed personal data for over four million Facebook users and documents with usernames and passwords for services like Netflix and Paypal. His activities caused significant cost and inconvenience to victims.

Wayne Joselyn, 43, dug up the grave of the victims in Carlton Cemetery, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, in April 2023, after hearing a rumour that the plot contained money to fund his drug habit. The couple had been buried together since 1984, with one victim dying at 78 and the other at 80 in 1982. The disturbance was discovered on May 2, 2023, by a member of the public, leading to a police investigation that identified Joselyn as the perpetrator.

John Taylor, a 30-year-old lorry driver from Riverside Traveller Park in Kirkhouse Green, Doncaster, deliberately drove his 7.5 tonne vehicle the wrong way down the M18 motorway near Doncaster on 10 January 2024, speeding for several miles and narrowly avoiding collisions. Prior to joining the motorway, he rammed a police car with the vehicle. He eventually performed a U-turn, dumped the lorry in the emergency carriageway, and ran across three lanes of traffic, where police found him hiding in a caravan.

Mohammad Farooq, a 29-year-old clinical support worker at St James’s Hospital in Leeds, took a viable home-made pressure cooker bomb, modelled on those used in the 2013 Boston Marathon but with twice the explosives, into the hospital on January 20, 2023, intending to kill as many nurses as possible. After failing to access RAF Menwith Hill due to security, he targeted the hospital as Plan B. He planned to use a bomb threat to evacuate staff, attack them with knives, and provoke police to shoot him. In the hospital cafe, he was approached by a patient, who talked him down from detonating the device, preventing an atrocity in the maternity wing. Farooq had self-radicalised online, accessing Al Qaeda materials, and was inspired by Islamic State, though his lawyers claimed grievances with nurses. He was arrested after the patient called the police.

Nathanial Elsemore of Urban Road, Hexthorpe, Doncaster, stalked a woman he met online for nine months from October 2022 to July 2023. He used multiple fake social media accounts to send abusive messages about self-harm and suicide, and made threats to kill her. He also sent messages to the victim's friends to further threaten her, causing serious harm to the victim.

Sharjeel Jelani, a 34-year-old Detention Officer working in Bradford District for West Yorkshire Police, committed perjury by submitting false claims in an 'Exceptional Hardship' application at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates Court in June 2022. He falsely stated he was a police officer in road traffic patrol and needed his licence for work to avoid disqualification from a speeding offence committed off-duty. The incorrect information was identified after sentencing, leading to an investigation by the Force’s Professional Standards Directorate.

Neil Atkinson conspired with others in the stealing of rail from Network Rail trackside and depot locations in the East of England on eighty-nine occasions between March and November 2016.

Mark Domonkos conspired with others in the stealing of rail from Network Rail trackside and depot locations in the East of England on eighty-nine occasions between March and November 2016.

David McClure conspired with others in the stealing of rail from Network Rail trackside and depot locations in the East of England on eighty-nine occasions between March and November 2016.

Joseph Savage conspired with others in the stealing of rail from Network Rail trackside and depot locations in the East of England on eighty-nine occasions between March and November 2016.

Karl Domonkos conspired with others in the stealing of rail from Network Rail trackside and depot locations in the East of England on eighty-nine occasions between March and November 2016.

Michael Waters was convicted for a series of sexual offences, including attempted rape, committed in the West Yorkshire area. The offences involved the abuse of young girls under the age of 14 over several years. Investigations revealed he had previously murdered a nine-year-old girl in Liverpool in 1959, for which he served 10 years in prison before being released and reoffending. The probe began in 2015 after a victim came forward, leading to the discovery of additional victims and his eventual sentencing.