York Crown Court Sentencing Results

On 28 June 2024, Matthew Curtis was ejected from the Unicorn pub in Newbiggin and The Talbot pub in Market Place, Richmond, for drunken behaviour. He later kicked a window at the Golden Lion causing £100 damage. He returned to the Unicorn covered in blood, brandishing a kitchen knife, and threatened to stab someone. The landlady calmed him and he was arrested. He had been drinking vodka while on a keto diet, causing memory blackout. He had prior convictions and was on bail for drink-driving and threatening behaviour.

Macauley Barry Robert Nesfield subjected his partner to years of domestic abuse, including coercive and controlling behaviour, assault, and wounding. He split her head open in an incident that left her and her baby covered in blood, causing her to seek help. The offences occurred between 2021 and 2014, during which she lived in fear and was manipulated by him.

John William Connelly breached a restraining order by confronting his ex-partner and her new partner during a morning walk on Kingsway West in Acomb on April 8, 2024. He repeatedly punched and kicked the victim, causing unconsciousness and requiring 24 hours of hospital treatment. The assault ended when two council workers intervened, and Connelly was arrested shortly after.

Ali Thomas King, along with others, arranged to meet a 19-year-old victim in Scarborough town centre on Sunday, May 18, 2025. King brandished a 12-inch knife, threatened the victim, and demanded money. When the victim tried to flee, King and two others chased and attacked him, stabbing him in the hand and punching him multiple times outside his front door. The victim sustained a large laceration that severed a nerve, requiring reconstructive surgery, and suffered lasting physical and mental scarring.

Graham Mansie, a 53-year-old driving instructor from Beckenham, Kent, became infatuated with his 19-year-old former pupil the victim while teaching her to drive. He began describing her as his 'favourite', set up social media accounts about her, sent gifts via another student, and expressed strong feelings in a text message. Despite warnings from her mother, he persisted, joined her university WhatsApp group, and drove to her York campus in October 2023 without entering her accommodation, leading to his arrest and charge for stalking. On May 28, 2024, he was given a suspended sentence at Bromley Magistrates Court. Just nine days later, on May 27, 2024, he breached the restraining order by driving over 200 miles from south London to York, arriving at 11.20pm outside her campus accommodation with blades, where he was found sobbing and self-harming superficially. He told police he intended to kill himself due to media coverage.

Kenan Joseph was driving on the A64 near Bilbrough Top on April 25 when police signalled him to stop. He failed to stop and drove off at high speed, reaching over 100mph, crossing double white lines, driving on the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic, and colliding with several vehicles. He was eventually stopped on the A19 near Easingwold after police used a stinger device to deflate his tyres. Upon arrest, he was rude and abusive, stating he did not care about endangering other road users.

Edward Blacklock, 34, from Acomb, engaged in online sexual conversations with an undercover police officer posing as a 12-year-old girl on the KIK platform between April and May 2023. He encouraged the 'girl' to perform sexual acts, sent a photo of his private parts, and discussed explicit activities. He was arrested on September 5, 2023, after police traced his IP address and discovered a large collection of indecent images and videos of children as young as three, including category A material, which he had accumulated over 10 years and shared with others. He was also found to have communicated with other minors online, though not charged for those instances.

Christopher Woodward received £126,000 derived from the illegal streaming websites run by his brother, Stephen Woodward, which provided unauthorised access to copyrighted content. He was involved in the financial aspects of the operation.

Stephen Woodward operated illegal streaming websites, including IPTV Hosting, Helix Hosting, and Black and White TV, providing unauthorised access to copyrighted content such as Sky Sports, BT Sports, and Premier League matches. He generated over £1 million in revenue, which he used to purchase designer clothes, jewellery, holidays, and a Jaguar F-Type V8 coupe worth £91,000. He laundered money by converting it into cryptocurrency and depositing it across multiple bank accounts. Arrested in November 2019 and July 2020, he continued his activities despite investigations.

Jack Adkins punched a victim at least 17 times inside a McDonald's restaurant on Blake Street in York on November 21, 2021, after a discussion escalated. A member of the public intervened, but Adkins renewed the attack outside with another man, punching and kicking the victim until he was unconscious. The victim sustained a lasting scar on his forehead, swelling, and cuts to other parts of his head and face. Adkins was tracked via CCTV and arrested shortly afterwards, and he had previously breached a community order related to the offence.

James Blundell attacked his wife at their home in Goldsborough, North Yorkshire, hitting her in the face and knocking her to the floor with a boot jack. He later called 999 and admitted the attack. A five-year restraining order was also imposed.

Hamish Hickey was on the school run when he crashed into the victim's car on a rural road near Ampleforth in North Yorkshire, on 26 July 2022, causing the death of the 84-year-old pensioner.

On 25 January 2025, at a block of flats in Scarborough, Gheorghita Zamacali and an accomplice carried out a premeditated stabbing and beating of a 30-year-old man. The victim suffered a chest stab wound and a severe head gash, and was airlifted for specialist care. The pair fled and were caught days later returning through the Euro Tunnel in Kent. The judge described the attack as dangerous, violent and potentially fatal.

On 26 January 2021, Jonathan Eaves was driving a bus northbound on the A19 near Easingwold when he approached a cyclist travelling in the same direction. As he overtook, the bus swerved to the right, making contact with the cyclist's handlebar grip, crossed the centre white lines, and collided with an oncoming Audi driven by the victim. The victim, 27, suffered serious injuries and died in hospital the same day. The cyclist had been clearly visible, including a hi-vis jacket, reflective rucksack straps, and a flashing rear light. Police collision investigators determined the cyclist would have been visible to the bus driver for more than 30 seconds before the impact.

John Henry Medd Taylor, a rogue builder, was paid £10,000 by a Stokesley resident to provide tiles, granite worktop, and bathroom fixings which were never delivered. He also claimed to have installed a windpost into the wall of a stable conversion, but the installation did not meet building regulations and had to be redone by another builder.

Kyril John McClean engaged in sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl in 2016. He was convicted after a week-long trial in March 2019 and sentenced today at York Crown Court by Judge Andrew Stubbs. North Yorkshire Police praised the bravery of the victim and witnesses.

On 25 January 2025, at a block of flats in Scarborough, Laurentiu Ardeleanu and an accomplice carried out a premeditated stabbing and beating of a 30-year-old man. The victim suffered a chest stab wound and a severe head gash, and was airlifted for specialist care. The pair fled and were caught days later returning through the Euro Tunnel in Kent. The judge described the attack as dangerous, violent and potentially fatal.

Callum Godfrey, 33, a chef from Great Langton, was made subject to a sexual-harm prevention order in 2019 for previous offences of making indecent images of children. The order banned him from deleting his internet history and required him to notify police of any new computer devices. In February 2022, during an unannounced visit, police found a Samsung tablet he had not disclosed, containing 26 indecent images of minors. After his arrest, he initially denied having other devices but later admitted to the tablet. He was released under investigation but on May 26 and again in June, he lied to police about possessing only one mobile phone; two more undeclared mobiles were found, and he had been deleting his browsing history. Godfrey pleaded guilty to four breaches of the order and one count of making Category C indecent images. He was jailed for two years, with a new 10-year sexual-harm prevention order and registration on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.

Bethany De Cogan, a 21-year-old from Kilburn, was sentenced for repeatedly making nuisance calls to the ambulance service and causing the A19 to be closed on two occasions by threatening to jump off a bridge at the junction of the A19 and A170 at Thirsk. In February 2020, she was spotted by motorists appearing to try to jump off the bridge, and police found her being restrained by members of the public; she had drunk a bottle of vodka and said she intended to jump. She was in breach of a criminal behaviour order imposed by York magistrates in November 2019, which banned her from calling 999 except in a genuine emergency and prohibited drinking in public in Hambleton district. In subsequent months, she made further calls to the ambulance service, threatened self-harm, and on several more occasions went to the same bridge, dangling from the edge, causing the A19 to be closed both ways for a considerable time. She also spat inside a police van during an arrest. She had a history of trespassing on railway lines, causing train delays, and had 20 previous convictions for 40 offences. She admitted six charges including breaches of the criminal behaviour order and making nuisance calls to the emergency services.

Billy Morrison, a disqualified driver from Barnsley, fled from police and reached speeds of 111mph before crashing into a line of traffic on the A61 at Skipton on Swale in September 2020. A female passenger in her 80s in one of the struck vehicles suffered 11 bone fractures, and his own passenger was also seriously hurt, leading to life-changing injuries. Morrison had been banned from driving only three weeks earlier and continued to drive illegally without insurance, while unfit through drink or drugs. He initially lied about driving but later admitted the offences.

Angus Baillie, 72, managed and lived at the Station Hotel in Pickering. A routine environmental health inspection of the kitchen in 2018 found dirty and unhygienic food preparation areas along with a fly infestation. He was charged following the inspection but went off grid in Scotland the following year, failing to appear in court. An arrest warrant was issued after he was found guilty in his absence.

Anthony Christopher McDonagh, 22, drove Eamon McDonagh from Blackburn to North Yorkshire on 7 April 2019. They used counterfeit Scottish £50 notes, researched and created using online tutorials, stampers and ultra-violet ink, in shops in Northallerton, Thirsk and Helmsley, obtaining low-value items and genuine change. They used an unregistered Nissan X-Trail with false plates and carried a change of clothes to avoid detection. Police arrested them near Ampleforth the next day after a brief foot chase. Over £833 in genuine cash was found in the vehicle. The total fraudulent gain was about £1,200.