St Albans Crown Court Sentencing Results

Michael Hargrave, using an online alias, met two minor victims on Snapchat and engaged in sexual offences with them in Hertfordshire. He communicated sexually with the children, committed sexual activity with them, caused them to watch sexual acts, and incited them to engage in sexual activity. He was arrested on May 11, 2023, after his identity was discovered through investigations. The offences involved organising meetings that led to the crimes, and police safeguarded the victims.

Andrew Dalby, from the Hemsworth area of Sheffield, engaged in online conversations with who he believed was a 14-year-old boy between October 20 and December 10, 2022, while posing as a 30-year-old doctor. The conversations turned sexual, and he arranged to meet the boy for a 'health check', booking a hotel room in St Albans. He travelled to the location with items such as condoms and medical equipment, where he was arrested. Police analysis of his devices revealed additional victims in Hull, Great Yarmouth, Birmingham, and South Wales.

On April 1, 2023, Thierry Wilkerson assaulted an elderly man in his 70s in Hatfield town centre by punching him repeatedly after being asked to stop riding an e-scooter illegally, causing a fractured eye socket and multiple injuries. He was also sentenced for his involvement in an affray on June 13, 2022, where he was part of a group fight that injured several people and involved kicking a dog.

Mohammed Anam was involved in luring a 45-year-old man to Jamie Mosque in St Albans, Hertfordshire, on June 4, 2020. He and others seriously assaulted the victim inside the mosque entrance, away from public view, resulting in three broken ribs and hospitalisation for over two weeks. Anam tampered with evidence by removing CCTV and lying to authorities.

Mohammed Choudhury was part of a group that lured a 45-year-old man to Jamie Mosque in St Albans, Hertfordshire, on June 4, 2020. They collectively beat the victim, causing three broken ribs and leading to hospitalisation for over two weeks. He also engaged in perverting the course of justice to conceal the assault.

Mohammed Mortuza lured a 45-year-old man to Jamie Mosque in St Albans, Hertfordshire, on June 4, 2020, via a text message. He and others seriously assaulted the victim, causing three broken ribs and requiring hospitalisation for over two weeks. The victim was traumatised, and Mortuza attempted to cover up the crime by lying to the police.

Ali Choudhury participated in luring a 45-year-old man to Jamie Mosque in St Albans, Hertfordshire, on June 4, 2020. He and others violently assaulted the victim, hitting him with such force that he sustained three broken ribs and required hospitalisation for over two weeks. The group attempted to cover up the crime.

Laura Borrell, 44, and her husband Philip benefited from her mother Frances Noble's fraud by acquiring and using laundered proceeds for an extravagant lifestyle, including holidays to Boston, San Francisco, and Canada between 2011 and 2017. They were held out as carers but were not. The money laundering arose from the fraud on Hertfordshire County Council.

Philip Borrell, 46, and his wife Laura benefited from her mother Frances Noble's fraud by acquiring and using laundered proceeds for an extravagant lifestyle, including holidays to Boston, San Francisco, and Canada between 2011 and 2017. He frequently travelled with his wife. The money laundering arose from the fraud on Hertfordshire County Council.

Perry Aldrich set alight garden waste in Balmoral Drive, Borehamwood, on August 12, 2022, which spread to a shed and a block of flats owned by Clarion Housing Association, causing an estimated £3 million worth of damage. This incident displaced 21 residents who required emergency housing, and no one was seriously injured. Aldrich was living in the block of flats at the time.

Simon Wilson admitted to sexually grooming a teenage girl and committing a number of sexual offences against her.

Robert Woolner, a 55-year-old school bus driver from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, was caught in an undercover police child grooming operation. Officers subsequently found upskirt videos on his phone of schoolgirls leaving the bus he was employed to drive.

Hannah Harris, a 23-year-old teaching assistant at a school in Hertfordshire, groomed a 14-year-old male pupil starting when she was 21. She exchanged social media messages with the boy, met him outside school, drove him to supermarkets to buy sweets, took him to McDonald's, and allowed him to smoke cannabis in her car. She had been warned at least twice about inappropriate conversations and flirtatious behaviour, including play fighting with a pupil. Harris tricked the boy's parents by pretending to be the mother of his fictional girlfriend. The sexual activity occurred in a supermarket car park in December 2019 and January 2020. She was caught after the boy's older brother discovered the relationship in January 2020, alerting the parents.

Hoa Thi Nguyen was a ringleader in a conspiracy to smuggle migrants across the Channel from France and Belgium to the Kent coast between April and August 2018. On 3 August 2018, a rigid hulled inflatable boat was stopped at Deal, Kent, with four Vietnamese migrants on board. The gang operated dangerously, showing callous disregard for safety, with migrants clinging to straps without lifejackets in pitch darkness. Nguyen masterminded the operation, exploiting migrants for labour and financial gain.

Natasha Conneely, a police officer working in Bedfordshire Police's offender management unit, had a secret relationship with a known burglar. In May 2023 the force found she had started the relationship; she removed the offender's electronic tag in April so he could visit her home without being traced, then checked systems to ensure their whereabouts had not been tracked. The pair later spent a night together in a hotel in Leeds in June. Conneely resigned from the force and a November 2023 tribunal found her behaviour amounted to gross misconduct; she was placed on the College of Policing's Barred List.

Nazmi Velia was a ringleader in a conspiracy to smuggle migrants across the Channel from France and Belgium to the Kent coast between April and August 2018. On 3 August 2018, a rigid hulled inflatable boat was stopped at Deal, Kent, with four Vietnamese migrants on board. The gang operated dangerously, showing callous disregard for safety, with migrants clinging to straps without lifejackets in pitch darkness. Velia masterminded the operation, exploiting migrants for labour and financial gain.

Mark Lovegrove deliberately started fires in bins and rubbish bags in an alleyway between buildings in Hertford's Old Cross and Cowbridge area at around 2am on January 12, 2026. The blaze caused significant damage to neighbouring buildings, including a hairdresser, a beauty salon, and residential properties. He was arrested nearby and later pleaded guilty to three counts of arson.

Dennis Dowton subjected a child known to him to a violent assault on 14 October last year, striking and suffocating her before dousing her with bleach. He was found guilty of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent.

On Saturday 5 August 2023, Daniel Coburn, driving a white Ford Transit drop-side vehicle on Standon Hill on the A120 at Standon, veered onto the wrong side of the road and collided with a red Kia Picanto driven by 81-year-old the victim, who died at the scene. Coburn was over the limit for alcohol, cocaine and MDMA, and had been using his phone in the minutes leading up to the collision, including engaging in sexual acts and conversations while driving.

Craig Stewart was sentenced at St Albans Crown Court to a total of four years after committing five offences against a victim, including intentional strangulation, assault causing actual bodily harm and criminal damage to a car windscreen. He had previously been jailed four years earlier for strangling a victim.

Thiara moved his victim into his home in April 2019 and held her captive for eight weeks. During that time, he subjected her to relentless physical and verbal abuse, beating her with a bottle, belt, and TV remote, cutting her hair with scissors, forcing her to drink his urine and eat food he had urinated on. Police were alerted by Thiara's father on 6 June 2019 and found the victim with severe facial injuries, her hair brutally chopped off, and cuts, scratches and heavy bruising on her arms.