Teesside Crown Court Sentencing Results

Joe Outlaw, a 39-year-old inmate at HMP Frankland, climbed onto the prison roof on June 21, 2023, during exercise time, leading to a 14-hour standoff with police and prison officers. He ripped up roof tiles, smashed cell windows, damaged heating ducts, and destroyed CCTV cameras, causing £170,000 in damage. This was driven by his paranoia about his food being tampered with and his ongoing frustration with his indeterminate sentence for a previous robbery.

David Gillender, 66, of Quedgeley, sexually abused three young boys in Redcar, North East, mid-1980s to 1990s.

Shannon Finney was involved in a 22-person operation that persuaded homeowners across the North East, Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, including Doncaster, to pay vastly inflated prices for unnecessary or poor-quality roofing and building work between May 2021 and August 2024. She was convicted of conspiracy to convert criminal property linked to the movement of victims' money.

On July 14, 2020 at 5.30pm, Simon Allport was driving his black BMW M4 Coupe along Tanton Road, Stokesley, when he drove on the wrong side of the road, narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with another vehicle before colliding with a silver Nissan Qashqai and forcing it off the carriageway into a field. The driver of the Qashqai, a 33-year-old teacher and the victim, died later in hospital. An investigation found Allport had been at the Master Cooper public house before the collision and was under the influence of alcohol, over the prescribed limit.

Stephen Henry Singleton, a director of a chemical company in St Helens, was one of the leaders of an amphetamine manufacturing operation based in Husthwaite. He used the encrypted EncroChat platform to communicate. The lab was raided on 28 April 2020, revealing production of amphetamine oil, hazardous chemicals, and 12 barrels of precursor MAPA. The enterprise had the potential to produce amphetamine worth over £5m. Singleton was convicted of conspiracy to produce amphetamine after a trial.

Suni Allen admitted committing grievous bodily harm in Hartlepool on January 1 and was jailed for two years.

On 13 December 2018, Thomas James McDowell, 26, contacted a man in Thirsk using an unknown number and threatened him, saying 'You're a f****** dead man, you've messed with the wrong family. I want my money' and 'I'm coming for my money'. The victim tried to respond but received a series of text messages demanding £10,000, showing knowledge of his home address, car and registration, and stating 'If I don't get paid today I'm blowing the car up'. McDowell was identified through CCTV purchasing a top-up voucher for the phone used in the blackmail. He was arrested the next day. Clothing seized matched the CCTV. It was revealed McDowell knew the victim and owed him £1,200. The victim's family was forced to leave their home twice around Christmas, causing lasting trauma. McDowell initially denied the allegations but later pleaded guilty.

On 1 April 2007, in Silk’s Nightclub in Redcar, drunken Stephen Petch punched 17-year-old student the victim in the face in an unprovoked attack at around 1am, causing two fractures to his lower jaw. The victim spent five days in hospital, underwent surgery, had metal buttons on his teeth, and suffered long-term effects including loss of sensation in his lower lip.

Yehia Elgamal placed his head underneath changing room cubicle doors at Stockton Splash leisure centre on two occasions while women were getting changed. He was 19 at the time of the offences and denied the offence, but was convicted following a trial. The victims told the court they felt violated and that the incidents had affected their confidence using public changing facilities.

Timothy Hill, 67, a company boss, fitted a laser jammer to his white Range Rover to confuse police speed detectors. On three separate occasions last December on the A19 near Easingwold, Thirsk, and Crathorne, he made obscene gestures at North Yorkshire Police's mobile safety cameras. When police launched an investigation, Hill lied about the location of his vehicle and attempted to destroy the laser jammer by throwing it into a river near his home in Grassington. After officers visited his home and questioned him, he admitted fitting the illegal device.

William James Corser, 18, of Thirsk, was driving a Vauxhall Corsa dangerously while racing with Luke Ridley's VW Bora on the A61 near Busby Stoop on 7 March 2018. His vehicle was not involved in the collision but he drove at excessive speed in convoy. He pleaded not guilty to one count of dangerous driving before changing to guilty at trial.

Matthew Hurst broke into his former partner's home months after strangling her and subjected her to a violent assault. The victim was found barely conscious and suffered bleeding on her brain, a significant traumatic brain injury, and ongoing cognitive impairment.

Matthew Cannings-Kent drove at 70mph in a 30mph zone while trying to escape police after reports of erratic driving and false number plates on the A1(M) on the evening of 11 May. Officers located the vehicle at Faverdale industrial estate at about 23:35 BST and began a pursuit. He drove the wrong way around a roundabout before attempting to enter the motorway against traffic at the A68 junction. Officers rammed the vehicle to prevent what was described as 'catastrophic consequences'. Gloves and tin snips were found inside his car.

Logan Lawson pleaded guilty at Teesside Crown Court to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on November 4 last year and was locked up for 10 years and 10 months.

Luke Ridley, 24, of Thirsk, was driving a defective VW Bora at excessive speed in a race with another driver's Vauxhall Corsa on the A61 near Busby Stoop on 7 March 2018. The Bora collided with a Ford Focus, killing two passengers, both 17, and causing life-changing injuries to two other passengers. Ridley initially denied two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and five counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, but changed his plea to guilty.

On July 8, 2022, PC Mark Roberts was driving a marked police car on Dunston Road in Gateshead when he ran a red light without slowing down or braking, colliding with a motorcycle ridden by the victim, 77, and his pillion passenger wife, 74. The wife died days later from her injuries, and the victim sustained serious injuries. Roberts treated the red light as a 'give way' sign, falling far below the standards expected of a competent driver.

Mason Caddick was involved in a verbal argument with a man in Hartlepool town centre when a woman pushed him a couple of times. He responded by punching her once to the face, causing her to fall and lose consciousness. The victim suffered a lost tooth and fractures to her leg and ankle. The incident, which was captured on CCTV, dated back to October 2022.

On Good Friday 2024, Michael Mason, 35, of Stillington, Stockton, approached a woman's home topless and banged on the door. He grabbed her arm, threw her phone to the floor (shattering it), exposed his penis, waved it around and shouted 'Do you want some of this?' in front of the woman and her child. He also kicked the exhaust pipe off her car. He was arrested shortly afterwards at his partner's home.

Raymond Douglas Mackley, 81, of The Green, committed a series of child sex offences over several years against two victims. He was convicted of 16 counts: eight of sexual activity with a child, six of sexual assault against a child under 13, and two of causing a child to engage in sexual activity. The abuse came to light when one victim disclosed to a family member after years of secrecy. Mackley was a trusted adult who abused that trust for sexual gratification.

Peter Sowerby, 63, of Tiverton, punched and kicked his partner so hard it caused a bleed to the surface of her brain and lasting health problems including seizures, preventing her from working in her previous hospitality career. The attack occurred in August 2021 following a night out with friends.

Ryan Adams, a student police constable, drove to a car park in Chester-le-Street in December 2024 and committed a sex act in full view of a couple sitting in their car. He was confronted and filmed leaving the scene. Adams then used the force data system to check whether anyone had reported his behaviour. Police traced his vehicle and arrested him later the same night. He had no previous convictions.

Ryan Beer was arrested with Philip Lister at a drug lab in Husthwaite on 28 April 2020. He was found assisting in the manufacture of amphetamine oil. The criminal operation, led by Stephen Singleton and Jordan Blackburn, used an encrypted EncroChat system and had the capacity to produce 523kg of amphetamine. Beer was convicted of conspiracy to produce amphetamine.

Sean Michael Derbyshire, 37, of Water End, Northallerton, led police on a 30-mile high-speed pursuit in a blue Mini Cooper shortly before 1am on October 23, 2021. Officers tried to pull him over on the Stokesley Road near Great Ayton, but he sped off, reaching speeds of 90mph along the A172. The pursuit ended when he crashed into a ditch near Hutton-le-Hole. He then jumped into the back of the car to pretend he hadn't been driving and gave a false name upon arrest. Derbyshire was also wanted for theft, taking without consent, failing to appear in court, and breaching a court order.

Cheryl Pickles, along with Andrew Hadwin, carried out prolonged and serious acts of neglect showing complete disregard for welfare. Described as sadistic.

Christopher Lumley, 38, a lorry driver from Hartlepool, was already under investigation after the FBI found chats he had with a fellow child sex offender in the USA when he was caught by an undercover officer posing as an abusive grandparent. Officers found more than 700 indecent images of children on his phone and evidence he distributed about 540 images online. After being released on bail, he contacted an undercover officer known as Tony on a Russian website and arranged to video call and watch the officer's supposed granddaughter being raped. He was arrested again in August and found to have made more than 3,000 visits to the website and to have 1,180 indecent images of children, about 250 of which he had distributed. Judge Deborah Sherwin described the images as showing the most serious depravity imaginable and some of the worst to come before the court.