Stoke On Trent Crown Court Sentencing Results

Grant Seymor, 31, of Biddulph, and Jakob Havard got out of a car and attacked the victim on Kingsfield Road in July 2023 while the victim was speaking to someone while buying shopping. Seymor punched the victim in the face. During the scuffle, a set of keys dropped; Seymor picked them up and used them to cause multiple injuries to the victim's face. Havard joined in the attack. They left in the car. Seymor was arrested two days later; Havard in October 2023.

Gary Mosedale, a 58-year-old HGV driver, engaged in sexualised conversations online with a profile he believed to be a 13-year-old girl in May 2024. He called her 'beautiful', instructed her to carry out sex acts, and sent sexual videos during their WhatsApp exchanges. The interaction was exposed when a group confronted him at his home on May 31, 2024, leading to his arrest. He tried to block them from entering, resulting in an injury to his back.

On May 1, Olivia Forrester became involved in an assault at The Pool Dole pub in Fenton, where she threw a glass at a woman who allegedly kissed her boyfriend, causing injuries to the victim's head, face, and foot. She was under the influence of alcohol, on bail at the time, and fled the scene in an Audi A1 before being arrested at her home.

Clint Jackson attacked his girlfriend in her home on the evening of April 10, 2025, and into the morning of April 11, 2025, after an argument where he had been drinking. He throttled her by putting his arm around her neck and applied pressure, then punched her in the face. This occurred while her two children were asleep upstairs. The victim had known him since January 2025, and their relationship involved frequent arguments when he drank.

Adam Lucking, aged 44, attacked his ex-partner by strangling her and causing actual bodily harm at the Leopold Hotel in Sheffield on New Year’s Eve 2024. He was initially given a suspended prison sentence and a 10-year restraining order at Sheffield Crown Court. He breached the order by contacting the victim on April 7, 8, and 9, 2025, leading to his sentencing to 12 months in prison at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

On December 2, 2022, Adrian Degg attacked his love rival outside The Cottage in Oakhill during a wake. He punched the victim in the face, causing him to fall unconscious, and then kicked him in the face with force. The victim was hospitalised, suffering fractures to his jaw in two places, required surgery with metal plates inserted, and experienced complications including infections, pain, nerve problems, and ongoing issues such as difficulty eating and sleeping. Degg admitted the attack was motivated by a belief that the victim had slept with his ex-wife, and he claimed to have felt threatened, though the incident was described as a cowardly and vicious revenge assault.

Amanda Whitehouse was promised she could keep a pregnant bully bitch named Lila if she fostered pups with cropped ears. This involvement led to unnecessary suffering for the animals affected by the illegal ear cropping procedure.

Alexander Johnson, who described himself as an 'icon in the dog world', carried out ear cropping on dogs for £450, despite it being illegal. This included butchering ears of puppies found in a flat in Hanley in November 2020, where officers discovered an operating table, medical equipment, and bloodied items. He continued the practice after his release from a previous sentence.

Holly Dunn, a mental health worker, agreed to have her new puppy's ears cropped despite the opportunity to refuse. She then falsified documents in Romanian and Serbian, along with passports, to claim the puppy was imported with cropped ears, leading to unnecessary suffering for the animal.

Joseph O'Reilly, 27, of Thornhill Road, Bentilee, was in a relationship that deteriorated, during which he was violent, controlled his partner's movements, damaged her property, and took her phone. In November 2023, he struggled with her at his house and later attended her new address, smashing windows with a brick, entering the property, verbally abusing her, and assaulting her. On September 20, 2024, he threatened to shoot her mother and drive a car into her family home in Burrington Drive, Trentham, which he did using a stolen vehicle, causing severe damage. He was arrested on September 26, 2024, while driving another stolen vehicle, where an axe and cannabis were found. The incidents left victims with significant emotional and psychological harm, including broken family relationships and fear for safety.

Lewis Tether, angered by the theft of his £6,500 quad bike, believed the victim was responsible and confronted him on January 8 at Church Road playing fields in Biddulph. Along with others, he wielded an axe, striking the victim eight times to the head, back, and ribs, and also kicked and punched him. The victim suffered a 4-5cm wound to the back of his head, swelling to his scalp, and bruising, requiring hospital treatment. Tether told police that people take the law into their own hands when authorities fail.

Samuel Clarke joined Lewis Tether in confronting the victim, whom they believed had stolen a quad bike, on January 8 at Church Road playing fields in Biddulph. Clarke caught up with the victim, ordering him to 'get on your knees bruv' and demanding the 'blue quad'. He kicked the victim once and punched him four times during the assault, which was captured on a Ring doorbell before he discarded it.

On January 27, 2024, Sean Notley, who had been drinking heavily, was outside the Cattle Market pub in Fountain Street, Leek, when he engaged in a fight with two men. He punched one victim repeatedly, knocking him to the ground and kicking him in the head, rendering him unconscious. He then punched the other man. The incident was captured on CCTV, and the victim sustained injuries including bruises to the right side of his head, a bruised right eye, grazing, damaged front teeth, and a cut to the back of his head. Notley claimed self-defence but this was not accepted.

Matthew Isles, a former ear, nose and throat consultant at Royal Stoke University Hospital and County Hospital in Stafford, engaged in sexually explicit communication with an undercover police officer posing as a 14-year-old boy on the Bad Guys social media platform between January 25 and February 6, 2025. He was aware of the decoy's age, shared his phone number, suggested meeting for sexual activity, and invited the exchange of explicit images. Police arrested him at his home in Whiston on February 10, 2025, where they discovered over 90,000 indecent images and videos on his devices, including 1,978 category A images, 1,317 category B images, 2,134 category C images, 459 prohibited images of children, and 17 extreme pornographic images. Additionally, evidence showed he had committed voyeurism and possessed a paedophile manual containing instructions on abusing children. He admitted to an addiction to sex, pornography, and child abuse material, and had used the platform for 10 years to meet men for sex.

Owen Mills, a former Staffordshire Police officer aged 22, engaged in sexual contact with a vulnerable woman who had brain damage due to alcoholism. This occurred while she was detained under the Mental Health Act in the back of a police car outside Harplands Hospital and again in a hospital waiting room at St George's Hospital in Stafford. He also exchanged sexually explicit messages and photos with her, including on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and sent her a photo of himself in police uniform. Additionally, he had inappropriate interactions with another woman, including sending a topless photo and a video of himself masturbating after taking her statement for a shoplifting offence. The incidents took place between September 2022 and January 2023.

Chicane Eaton, along with his brother, attacked a man in the Jolly Potters pub in Crackley on February 9, 2024. He strangled the victim in a chokehold for 55 seconds in the toilet after the victim tried to calm an argument, then pushed him to the floor in the main bar and kicked and punched him while he was on the ground, causing injuries including a badly bruised eye, swelling, bruising, and blurred vision.

Craig Potts, a 40-year-old from Newcastle-under-Lyme, forced a vulnerable woman to perform sex acts on his associates against her will early last year. The victim reported the incident after confiding in a friend, leading to his arrest in May. He was unrepentant throughout the proceedings and was convicted by a jury.

Azar Iqbal, brother of Jimran Mohammed, laundered proceeds of the drug dealing enterprise by hiring vehicles used in the operation, as part of the conspiracy to supply class A drugs in Stoke-on-Trent from March 1 to July 20, 2022.

Wesley Jones, 32, attacked his pregnant girlfriend in her home on June 28, 2023, by grabbing her throat and strangling her, which restricted her breathing and left her dazed. He threw her to the floor, causing her to hit her head, and damaged her television worth £1,000 and coffee table worth £67. The incident was witnessed by her two children, and she was two months pregnant at the time.

Hasnen Iqbal attended the Hanley riots on August 3, where he threw bricks towards police and protesters. He spent most of the day trying to dissuade others from participating, assisted an injured person from the opposing side, and expressed that he regretted his actions in the heat of the moment.

Lee Morley, while under the influence of alcohol, attacked a man in an Abbey Hulton alleyway on June 8. The victim was walking past Morley, who was burning rubbish, when Morley punched him to the head without provocation. Morley then punched him again, causing him to fall into railings, kneed him in the face, and delivered about six more punches. The victim suffered fractures to his jaw and the base of his skull, a laceration to his upper lip, tender ribs, and a damaged tooth, leading him to relocate after 19 years in his home due to fear and intimidation.

On August 10, 2024, Karter Kelsall attacked a pub-goer with a metal bar in Hanley following an argument in the Auctioneers pub. The victim was asked to leave after a dispute, and Kelsall armed himself with the weapon, striking the victim twice to the back of the head, chasing him, and continuing to hit him until he fell. The victim sustained two 2cm wounds, lost approximately 300 millilitres of blood, required hospital treatment including seven sutures, and suffered delayed concussion and ongoing paranoia about going out in the evening.

Laurie Bancroft assisted her boyfriend and another individual by booking and paying for a caravan in Great Yarmouth to hide them from police after they were wanted for aggravated burglary, which could amount to attempted murder. She denied knowledge of their whereabouts during a police visit but was later arrested with them at the holiday park. She was described as a single mother who was in a vulnerable situation at the time.

Lee Talbot, aged 39, returned home drunk and blamed his parents for his life choices. He retrieved a meat cleaver from the kitchen drawer and threatened to kill his father, putting his arm around his father's neck and saying, 'I’ll kill you before the police come' and 'I’ll cut your head off.' His mother intervened and sought help from neighbours. In a separate incident on May 2, 2024, he headbutted his father after demanding a lighter. These events left his father living in fear and petrified of further harm.

Luke Bown, who was subject to notification requirements following a 2011 conviction for a serious sexual offence, breached those requirements by maintaining active Facebook and Instagram accounts from June 14, 2023, to March 23, 2024, without informing the police. Police discovered the accounts during routine checks, and although no further crimes were committed on the accounts, the breach violated his obligations.