Latest news with #TeessideCrownCourt
BBC News
17-07-2025
- BBC News
Hartlepool drug dealer caught with £150k jailed
A drug dealer found with more than £150,000 has been jailed for five Dobie, 45 and from Hartlepool, was a "busy street dealer" of Class A drugs, Teesside Crown Court he was arrested in March, officers discovered thousands of pounds as well as mobile phones showing his criminal of Inch Grove, admitted being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs and possessing criminal property. Recorder Thomas Moran said Dobie had been operating a drugs line and sending out "bulk texts" to get was "plainly a busy street dealer of Class A drugs", the judge said. 'Beyond feeding habit' Dobie told probation officers not all of the money was his and he was looking after it for other people, the court his previous convictions were offences of dealing cannabis and possessing crack cocaine, the court Moran said Dobie "developed a dependency" on drugs but his level of involvement "went beyond merely feeding" his own habit and he had made money from the venture too. Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
08-07-2025
- BBC News
Teesside dealer who hid £100k worth of drugs in Airbnb jailed
A dealer who rented an Airbnb to hide his drug haul worth more than £100,000 has been Ford, of St Paul's Road in Middlesbrough, has received a prison sentence for 12 years and nine months for violent disorder, conspiracy to supply cannabis, possession with intent to supply heroin and possession with intent to supply cocaine. Teesside Crown Court heard how the 32-year-old had stashed cocaine inside kitchen cupboards and packages of heroin in a bedroom of the Airbnb on Grassington Road, Middlesbrough. Ford had been wanted by Cleveland Police following reports of concern for an individual at a property where threats had been made in relation to drugs. Police said specialised methods were utilised to locate Ford following the report made on 30 October 2024. Searches of the Airbnb led to detectives finding 842g of cocaine, with a street value of approximately £84,000 and a wholesale value of between £38,000 to £42,000, inside cupboards in the packages of heroin were found in the bedroom, with one package weighing 1,070g with an estimated street value of £21,000, a second weighing 104g and worth approximately £2,080 and the third containing 292g of heroin, believed to be worth £5,840, police was also recovered inside the property along with £10,000 in cash, a money-counting machine and digital was arrested on 7 November inside the Airbnb and later pleaded guilty to all the offences. Det Con Genyfer Smith, from Cleveland Police's homicide and major enquiry team, said: "Ford had made the Airbnb booking himself and provided his own personal details knowing that he would be using the property to store, package, and weigh three different types of drugs ready for onward supply."The money-counting machine would also suggest he profited from their significant sale."He was either quite brazen in his actions or caught up in the money he would have been profiting, to not think police would be persistent in their pursuit of him." Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
04-07-2025
- BBC News
Darlington rapist covered woman's mouth to silence her pleas, court told
A rapist who put his hand over an 18-year-old woman's mouth to silence her pleas for him to stop has been jailed for three English, from Darlington, was 20 when he ignored his victim repeatedly saying "no" part-way through consensual sex, Teesside Crown Court offending emerged when English contacted police to say someone was demanding £500 from him or he would be reported for sexual now 24, initially denied rape but changed his plea to guilty on the second day of his trial. The encounter in 2022 began as consensual but English refused to stop when the woman told him to, prosecutor Rebecca Brown he placed his hand over her mouth and began getting rougher and more "forceful" before she was finally able to push him away, the court heard. 'Worried sick' Several weeks later he received a message from a third party demanding he pay £500 or be reported to police, Ms Brown contacted police to report the message but officers also asked about the alleged sexual assault, which led them to interview the were also found on English's phone in which he claimed he had "got lost in the moment" and did not hear the woman, to which she replied that was nonsense and she had told him to stop four also said he had been "worried sick" ever since and, when he looked in the mirror, all he could see was a rapist because that was what he had done to the woman, the court was also a message in which English said he "felt awful" and "couldn't have been more apologetic". 'Rape is rape' In a statement read to the court, the woman said the rape had "tainted" her view of intimacy forever and her later teenage years had been ruined by said she found peace knowing he could not hurt her or any other woman mitigation, the court heard it was "consensual sex gone too far" and English, of Bushel Hill Drive, was "bitterly ashamed" for his "vile" Stephen Ashurst said English "selfishly ignored" the woman's wishes and "rape is rape".He said English was an "intelligent young man" but was "relatively immature and naïve about certain emotional matters".The judge also said the remorse English had expressed showed he had appeared to have learned from his "serious error".English must also sign the sex offender register for life. Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
03-07-2025
- BBC News
Spennymoor paedophile shared photos of himself abusing child
A "deviant" paedophile who shared pictures of himself molesting a child and secretly took pictures of men getting changed has been jailed for six and a half Jackson, 25, exchanged thousands of messages and pictures with other abusers online having filmed himself groping a child, Teesside Crown Court carried on collecting and sharing indecent images of children even after being arrested and released upon from Spennymoor, County Durham, admitted 17 offences, including voyeurism, making and distributing indecent images of children and sexually assaulting a child. Police first arrested Jackson, of Moorside, at his home on 9 October 2023 after receiving information he possessed indecent images of children, prosecutor Ellen Wright devices were seized and downloads completed, which were examined more than a year later on 11 November 2024, the court heard. Thousands of images Officers discovered a folder titled with a child's name, in which they found more than 600 images of a child taken without the subject's knowledge, including a number which showed Jackson molesting were also images of Jackson attempting to sexually abuse a second child, as well as a hoard of more than 4,000 child sex abuse images, including almost 1,400 in the most serious category with victims as young as four, the court also discovered more than 9,000 messages and 4,000 child sex abuse images Jackson had exchanged with another person on Telegram over a 13-month period, Ms Wright had also distributed 96 indecent images of children, including 17 he had made of himself abusing the child, to nine other abusers on WhatsApp and Telegram, the court were also three folders, each with a different man's name, that were found to contain more than 700 covertly recorded images of three men getting changed at a venue in County Durham, the court heard. 'Men felt violated' On 12 November, Jackson was arrested again with more devices seized and searched, the court heard.A mobile phone was found to contain more images of indecent children he had downloaded since his first arrest, the court statements read to the court, the mother of the child Jackson molested said she was devastated to learn of the abuse, while the three men said they felt "violated" and distressed at the thought of intimate images of them being shared Stephen Ashurst said Jackson had carried out a "variety of disturbing" and "deviant" offences and there was no question he had a sexual interest in children and got gratification from abusing them.A sexual harm prevention order restricting his future use of the internet and contact with children was also made to last indefinitely. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
27-06-2025
- BBC News
Bishop Auckland woods sex attacker gets life sentence
A sex offender described as "every woman's nightmare" after he tried to rape a teenage girl has been given a life Bates, 37, attacked the girl after pretending to be lost in woods near Bishop Auckland, Durham Police girl's family said it had had a "profound effect" on of Kirk Merrington near Spennymoor, admitted attempting to rape a girl aged between 13 and 15 years old and was jailed for life with a minimum term of six years and eight months. Sitting at Teesside Crown Court, Judge Joanne Kidd said Bates was "the living embodiment of every woman and girl's nightmare" and the "very reason parents warn girls how to defend themselves". 'I don't care' Bates attacked the girl as she walked in Eldon Woods, near Bishop Auckland, on the afternoon of 10 April, Durham Police 37-year-old pretended to be lost and asked her for directions out of the woods before performing a sex act on himself, a force spokeswoman terrified girl sprinted away but was caught by Bates, who dragged her to the ground and tried to rape her, police an attempt to stop him, the girl told Bates she was 10 years old, to which he replied "I don't care" and continued his attack, the force managed to shout to a passer-by for help, which caused Bates to flee the were called and he was arrested in the woods a short time later. 'Appalling and horrific' In a victim impact statement, the girl's mother said the attack had a "profound effect" and her daughter got scared if a man got near her in public."The woods used to be her safe place," the mother said. "However, she is so afraid she cannot go there any more."Det Con Dave Taylor said it was an "appalling and horrific crime" in which Bates "targeted a young, vulnerable girl" in a "very predatory way"."He poses a significant risk to lone women and girls," the officer said, adding he praised the "remarkable courage" shown by the victim.A sexual harm prevention order was also made to last indefinitely. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
