Warwick Crown Court Sentencing Results

On June 11, 2017, at around 9pm, Daniel Pollock and Gary Morgan entered Shipleys Casino in Walsgrave Road, Coventry, where two female staff were working with one customer. Pollock peered through the window, put on a deerstalker-type hat, and entered with head bowed. Morgan held a machete concealed behind his leg under his coat and brandished it at one of the women, grabbing her by the shoulder. They pushed the terrified women towards the office, ordering them to the safe, and demanded money. They took around £250 in cash from a pot on the desk, searched cupboards and drawers, and stole a purse containing £20 and bank cards from one woman's handbag before fleeing.

In December 2016, Wayne Clark, aged 41-42, cycled up behind an 87-year-old pensioner outside her flat in Coventry, and grabbed her shopping bag containing her purse, pulling her to the ground. She screamed for help, alerting a lift engineer, who chased Clark, knocked him off his bike, and held him until police arrived. Clark provided a false name and address, refused a drug test, and had five prior robbery convictions, including against elderly women. The victim, fearing further targeting, left her home of ten years for sheltered accommodation.

In October 2016, Steven Grant, who had been staying at his father's home on and off, broke into the garage while his father was out getting food around 6.30pm. Upon returning, his father found the garage door damaged. Inside, he encountered Steven, who was under the influence of drugs (cocaine addiction since age 14), acting aggressively and holding a knife with the blade pointed towards his father. Steven demanded money, receiving £15 initially, then followed his father upstairs still armed, leading his father to throw his £1,000-£1,200 watch at him out of fear. Steven took the items and left through the front door. His father called the police, but Steven returned to the garage, prompting his father to flee to a neighbour's. Police arrested Steven inside the address.

Anthony Collier, 31, of Coundon, Coventry, took part in a terrifying raid at Hatton Country World in July 2014 with two other men, armed with a machete and a hammer, threatening to cut off a woman's fingers and stealing £5,000 from the safe. DNA on a balaclava later linked him to the raid. He was also involved in the main conspiracy of 13 robberies at shops in Warwickshire and Coventry, including the One Stop shop in Caesar Road, Kenilworth on December 22, 2014 (stealing £296 cash and £5,840 cigarettes), Tesco Express in Kenilworth on January 8, 2015 (£2,900 cash and £2,000 cigarettes), One Stop on February 3, 2015 (£329 cash and £3,000 cigarettes), and One Stop on April 2, 2015 (£305 cash and £5,222 cigarettes).

Ian Pheasey, a Jehovah's Witness and librarian at the Kingdom Hall in the Woodloes area of Warwick, assaulted three young girls in the 1990s. He strangled a seven-year-old girl in the Kingdom Hall library by grabbing her neck until she could not breathe; she escaped but was too frightened to tell anyone. He later assaulted a 14-year-old girl by grabbing her neck, dragging her into a house, throwing her to the floor, straddling her, and squeezing her neck until she passed out twice, then threatening to kill her and rape her future daughters if she told. Her parents concealed the sexual nature of the incident, and the church swept it under the carpet. He also indecently assaulted a six-year-old girl by tickling her and moving his hand up under her skirt while she sat in his van during work at her parents' home; she stopped him by kicking and screaming. The offences were covered up by the congregation for years until one victim reported him to police in concern over his job at a hospice.

Nigel Parsons, of Walsgrave, carried out a frenzied attack on a 26-year-old man with learning difficulties in the early hours of March 12, 2015, after accusing him of stealing a torch. The victim had been staying with Parsons, an old friend, at his home for a couple of weeks. Parsons attacked him with a snooker cue, punched and kicked him to the floor, breaking his nose, fracturing his cheekbone, and causing other facial cuts and bruising. Parsons tried to escape by climbing out of a window when police arrived that morning to arrest him for failing to appear at court on a charge of handling stolen goods, but was arrested just outside. Officers found the victim inside, who initially claimed his injuries were from a fall but later confessed Parsons had beaten him and prevented him from leaving. A broken, blood-stained snooker cue was found at the address and the victim’s blood was on Parsons’ footwear.

Steven McInulty and Criag Covington, armed with a machete and ice-axe, held up three female staff members at Hatton Country World on July 23, 2014. The masked men forced the staff into a back office, threatening to cut their hands off unless they opened safes. They made off with a till float and cash bags from one safe in McInulty's Renault Megane. Within two hours, they were arrested at McInulty's home, where the weapons were found in his car and cash in Covington's nearby Audi A3.

Steven McInulty and Criag Covington, armed with a machete and ice-axe, held up three female staff members at Hatton Country World on July 23, 2014. The masked men forced the staff into a back office, threatening to cut their hands off unless they opened safes. They made off with a till float and cash bags from one safe in McInulty's Renault Megane. Within two hours, they were arrested at McInulty's home, where the weapons were found in his car and cash in Covington's nearby Audi A3.

Kaye was at his aunt's house in Rugby when the victim and friends smoked cannabis. After the friends left, Kaye woke the victim at 3am, threatened him with a knife, and called Nicholls over. Kaye and Nicholls backed the victim into a corner demanding money. More men arrived, and the victim was later chased and assaulted. Kaye admitted threatening behaviour and common assault.

In August 2013, at a gathering in Rugby, Bradshaw and the victim, who had been drinking and smoking cannabis, did not know each other. The victim had a brief consensual kiss with Bradshaw. Later, she was helped to a bedroom and fell asleep. Bradshaw got into the bed, cuddled up to her, and she initially responded thinking he was her boyfriend. Upon realising her mistake, Bradshaw sexually assaulted her before stopping when she said 'I don't want to do this'. He claimed he was 'trying his luck' and that the initial contact appeared consensual.

In the early hours of March 16, Harris broke into a multi-occupancy house in Rugby. A resident was woken at 4am by a commotion and saw Harris, who was extremely drunk, being detained by other residents who had caught him coming out of one of the rooms. Although he had not taken anything from that specific room, he had stolen alcohol, food and clothing from another room. The police were contacted and Harris, who had extensive previous convictions, was arrested. He made full admissions during questioning. This was his third domestic burglary conviction.

Shaun Duffy, a convicted sex offender, moved from his mother's Leamington home to a caravan at a scrap yard in Balsall Common without notifying police of his change of address as required under sex offender registration. At the end of October, while his mother was on holiday, he returned, attacked her car on the drive with a hammer, threatened police with a knife and to set the house on fire. He was arrested in a nearby park. Upon mother's return, she found the house smashed (television, framed photographs, decorative plates) and £26 cash stolen.

Stuart Baker groomed and repeatedly sexually assaulted the victim between 2017 and 2020 in Warwickshire and Coventry. He befriended the victim's family and moved house to be closer to the victim. The offending came to light in 2020 when he told a colleague while drunk that he was sending sexually explicit messages to an underage boy; the colleague contacted the NSPCC and police arrested Baker.

Suzanne Edmondson, a care worker, attacked an elderly dementia patient at a care home in February. She pinned the victim down and struck him in the face while swearing at him, causing a black eye, a cut above the left eye, bruising to both arms and swollen fingers. Another staff member witnessed the incident and alerted police. Edmondson later pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and an offence involving care home staff ill-treating a patient.

Terry Hannifin committed a series of offences in Rugby during November 2022. On 6 November, he stole a pushbike from Junction One Retail Park. On 11 November, he burgled a car showroom in Rugby and stole a car, and also stole a wheel from a pedal cycle in Church Street. On 15 November, he and Sean Ryan burgled a property in Rugby. Officers responding to the burglary quickly detained both men nearby; a pair of nunchucks was seized from Ryan.

Tyler Hemingway was involved in two incidents in Leamington. In May, outside Murphy's bar in Regent Street, he exchanged words with another man, took out a knife and struck the man, causing a two-inch cut to his chest. Just over a week later, he hit a man on the head with a motorcycle crash helmet in Admiral Way. Later that day, Hemingway, who had a history of self-harm, stabbed himself in the abdomen and spent two weeks in hospital. He had overcome a class A drug habit but continued to struggle with cannabis, and was described as drug-addled and paranoid.