Teesside Crown Court Sentencing Results

Ben Ware was involved in laundering money from a roofing fraud conspiracy in which vulnerable homeowners were cold-called and pressured into paying inflated prices for unnecessary or poor-quality work. The wider operation took more than £1 million between May 2021 and August 2024.

Chelsea Bayliss was involved in laundering money from a roofing fraud conspiracy in which homeowners were cold-called and pressured into paying for unnecessary or poor-quality work. The wider operation took more than £1 million from victims between May 2021 and August 2024.

Nicole O'Brien was involved in a money laundering conspiracy connected to a roofing fraud that targeted homeowners in the North East, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. The network extracted more than £1 million between May 2021 and August 2024 by pressuring victims into paying for unnecessary and overpriced work.

Ryan Watson was involved in a money laundering conspiracy linked to a roofing fraud that extracted more than £1 million from victims between May 2021 and August 2024. The network pressured homeowners into paying for unnecessary and poor-quality roofing work.

Serena Robertson was involved in a money laundering conspiracy connected to a roofing fraud that targeted vulnerable homeowners. The network extracted more than £1 million between May 2021 and August 2024 by pressuring victims into paying for unnecessary and overpriced work.

Thomas Winter was involved in laundering money from a roofing fraud in which victims were cold-called and pressured into paying for unnecessary, overpriced work. The conspiracy operated between May 2021 and August 2024 and resulted in more than £1 million being taken from homeowners.

Charlie Farrow was involved in laundering the proceeds of a roofing fraud in which homeowners were cold-called and pressured into paying for unnecessary or poor-quality work. The wider conspiracy operated in the North East, Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire between May 2021 and August 2024 and extracted more than £1 million.

Daniel Moody was convicted in his absence following a trial for laundering money from a roofing fraud conspiracy. The wider operation targeted vulnerable homeowners in the North East, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire between May 2021 and August 2024, taking more than £1 million for unnecessary and overpriced work.

Sonja Edgar was involved in a money laundering conspiracy connected to a wide-ranging roofing fraud. The network cold-called victims, inflated the scope and cost of work, and extracted more than £1 million between May 2021 and August 2024, moving the proceeds through numerous accounts.

Charlie Hoe stabbed a 19-year-old man outside a shop in March 2026, lunging at him with a knife. The injured man was later seen clinging to the roof of a moving van and received emergency treatment at hospital.

Michael Flanigan took part in an attack on a 19-year-old man outside a shop in March 2026. The injured man was later seen clinging to the roof of a moving van and received emergency treatment at hospital.

Robert Ashcroft groomed and repeatedly sexually assaulted a child over a three-month period. He was charged with six counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. He initially denied the offences but changed his plea to guilty after the child gave evidence. He was also involved in an attempted burglary on July 7, 2025, when he was seen via doorbell footage and arrested nearby.

On 7 January 2026, Christopher North entered a bank in Middlesbrough town centre wearing a balaclava and carrying a banana wrapped in a white cloth to look like a gun. He pointed it at cashiers and said, 'I'm robbing the bank, I'm robbing the bank, give me the cash.' Some customers believed it was a gun, while others saw the fruit. Two customers escorted him out of the bank. Police later found at his home a plan of the robbery, three bananas and five copies of a book he had written called The Man Who Robbed a Bank With A Banana. He had a long history of mental illness and had engaged with treatment while on remand.

Peter Murphy was caught smuggling pregabalin, Subutex and spice into HMP Holme House on July 16 last year. Prison staff became suspicious during visiting time and tracked him on CCTV before searching him; the drugs were found wrapped in clingfilm in his jacket pocket. He pleaded guilty to three counts of bringing a prohibited article into prison. The court heard he has a number of health problems and is diabetic, and his barrister said he is due to marry in Turkey on September 16. Judge Aisha Wadoodi said she had taken his health difficulties into account.

Ethan Chapman was part of a revenge attack at an industrial unit in Hartlepool on 6 April 2026, during which 12 vehicles were destroyed in a blaze. The court heard that the attack was linked to organised crime.

In August 2025, while under sex offender management, Daryl Stokes was caught after his management team suspected him of further offences. Police found more than 800 indecent images of children on his devices, 409 of which were in the most serious category (Category A). Detective Constable Jordan Pascoe described these as the worst he had viewed. Stokes pleaded guilty to making indecent photographs and two breaches of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Dwayne Bates was one of two hired gunmen who shot through the living room window of a family home on Middlebeck Way, Thorntree, Middlesbrough, on the night of May 7, 2025. The mother was standing by the window and avoided being hit by jumping onto the sofa. A bullet lodged in the wall behind her. The men had been hired to force a man to pay an alleged £20,000 drugs debt. The mother had received prior threats of rape, arson, and acid attack. Bates and his co-defendant Kieron Robinson, both masked, approached the house with another unidentified man. One firearm failed to discharge; the other fired through the window. Afterwards they burned their clothes. Bates had a criminal history including aggravated burglary and violent disorder.

Kieron Robinson was one of two hired gunmen who shot through the living room window of a family home on Middlebeck Way, Thorntree, Middlesbrough, on the night of May 7, 2025. The mother was standing by the window and avoided being hit by jumping onto the sofa. A bullet lodged in the wall behind her. The men had been hired to force a man to pay an alleged £20,000 drugs debt. The mother had received prior threats of rape, arson, and acid attack. Robinson, masked, approached the house with co-defendant Dwayne Bates and an unidentified man. One firearm failed to discharge; the other fired through the window. Afterwards they burned their clothes. Robinson had no prior violent convictions but was heavily under the influence of drugs at the time.

On 10 May 2025 in Hartlepool, County Durham, Liam Kenny, 19, after consuming six pints of lager and cocaine, rode a motorbike without the owner's consent and without a licence or insurance. He was speeding in a 20mph zone on Northgate when he struck pedestrian victim, 22, who was waiting to cross the road. The victim was thrown into the air and airlifted to hospital with life-changing injuries including a significant brain injury. Kenny fled on foot but was later arrested; a breath test showed 100mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath (limit 35mcg) and toxicology found he was almost four-and-a-half times the drink-drive limit and 12 times the drug limit.

On 11 July 2025, Leighton Watson, aged 19, drove a Honda erratically through Billingham, reaching 70mph in a 30mph zone, mounting pavements, driving through a bush and across a field before crashing into a bollard. He attempted to flee on foot and was found hiding in a garden. Class C drugs were found on him. A prohibited firearm was later seized from a garden in December 2025 with Watson’s DNA on it.

Shane Meir, 21, entered an address in Cheshire Road, in Norton, on October 3 last year. He demanded car keys while brandishing a makeshift shank and then used a razor blade to slash his 19-year-old victim's hand. The victim required surgery and physiotherapy. Meir then ran out of the house and into a neighbour's front garden where he realised he had grabbed house keys, rather than car keys. He lunged towards the victim with a knife, which forced the teen to retreat back into the house.

Joseph Foster, a 38-year-old car valeter from Tame Bridge in Stokesley, got into a row with an innocent stranger waiting at a taxi rank on Albert Road, Middlesbrough, on February 22 after drinking heavily that day. He broke free from a friend restraining him and punched the victim with force, knocking him unconscious to the ground. The victim, out with his family, suffered a broken jaw, injuries around his eyes and nose, required surgery, lost his mobile phone, and stated he no longer wants to socialise around alcohol.

Aaron Drummond, 27, of no fixed address, fled from police in a stolen BMW reported stolen in Haughton, Darlington on January 29, reaching 59mph in a 30mph zone and driving the wrong way down the A66 towards Sadberge, narrowly avoiding pedestrians, oncoming traffic, two HGVs and several other vehicles before abandoning the car. On February 14, he drove a Mitsubishi Outlander the wrong way down the A1(M) with lights off before crashing into another vehicle. He escaped lawful custody from hospital and damaged a pair of handcuffs.

Lee Davidson, previously jailed for three years in 2024 for fraudulently pressuring a retired couple into paying for uncompleted gutter cleaning work, breached his criminal behaviour order by approaching an elderly woman at her home in Hartlepool. He offered to repair her ridge tiles for £120, reducing to £80, provided a roofing leaflet, pressured her to start work immediately, and returned a few days later, leaving her feeling unnerved and uneasy in her own home. The approach was witnessed by PCSO Davenport.