As the months roll on, so do the wheels of justice across Yorkshire as more criminals enter the court docks.
Some leave the court the same way they came in – through the security doors – but others are taken away in a van to begin their time behind bars.
Despite being the start of the year, January has been a busy month, with some of the region’s most dangerous criminals locked up at the courts across Yorkshire. The month saw sentences passed for evil killer couple Ian Mitchell and Sarah Pearson for the murder of Stephen Kershaw, and dad Sohail Taj who has found himself back behind bars for drug dealing.
Read more: West Yorkshire Police update in search for mother of baby found dead in Leeds pub toilet
We’ve rounded up a list of people locked up in Yorkshire in January.
Connor Brian
(Image: West Yorkshire Police)
Brian was jailed for 30 months after he left a taxi driver in a coma following a crash.
He had been captured on footage driving at high speeds before the collision. A court heard that seconds before the collision, Brian had opened a Snapchat message.
George Blair
(Image: North Yorkshire Police)
County lines drug dealer Blair was locked up for five years after police found him with crack cocaine and heroin.
North Yorkshire Police’s Operation Expedite team identified a ‘deal-line’ which was offering crack cocaine and heroin for sale for four days at the end on June in 2023. This was being run from the Middlesbrough area and the number was linked to Blair. On June 28, officers identified Blair getting off a bus in Westborough, Scarborough, with a 16-year-old boy. They were traced to McDonald’s on Huntriss Row and were both arrested.
The boy ran to the toilets and disposed of a package containing heroin and crack cocaine over the top of a toilet cubicle. However, the cubicle was occupied at the time and the package was recovered.
It contained 53 wraps of crack cocaine and 40 wraps of heroin. Following a search of Blair, the deal phone was also recovered.
Elliott O’Reilly
Dangerous driver O’Reilly led police on a “lunatic” pursuit and then told an officer: “I’m not arguing with you…you’re doing your job” as he was arrested.
The pursuit – which lasted around three minutes – ended after O’Reilly collided with traffic cones, the rear of a taxi and the rear of a lorry. He was jailed for a year for dangerous driving.
Colin Shaw
(Image: South Yorkshire Police)
Sick Shaw plied a teenage girl with cans of beer before putting his hand up her top and inside her bra.
He encouraged the 15-year-old to stay silent and downplay what had happened to her after the vile attack inside his home in Rotherham. After being found guilty of one count of sexual assault he was jailed for three years and four months.
Conrad Williams
Professional conman Williams was ordered to spend more time behind bars after he stole a delivery driver’s work van as he went about his job in Skipton.
The victim tried to stop him but could not get into the van and suffered injuries. Williams took a wallet, driving licence and debit cards which were used to buy boxes of Benson & Hedges. He was handed a year to be served consecutively to the sentence he was handed in April last year.
Calvin Barrett
(Image: West Yorkshire Police)
Barrett was put behind bars in January after glassing his girlfriend. He threw the glass at his partner and left her needing hospital treatment following a row at their home while he was under investigation for drug offences.
He was jailed for 28 months.
Jahmaine Watson
(Image: South Yorkshire Police)
Pittsmoor Shotta Boys member Watson was jailed after his DNA was found on the trigger of a loaded gun discovered during a drugs raid in Doncaster. The revolver, a pistol and ammunition were seized from an address in Denaby. Two loaded firearms were found hidden in a cupboard in the hallway of the property along with a quantity of drugs.
Watson went on to plead guilty to possession of a prohibited firearm and ammunition and was jailed for seven years and two months.
Sohail Taj
(Image: West Yorkshire Police)
Halifax dad Taj was caught dealing drugs just months after being released from prison.
He was put back behind bars for five years and seven months after being caught dealing to suspected drug users from a parked-up Audi. When he was arrested he was found to be in possession of £260 in mixed banknotes and a discarded black bag contained dozens of wraps of crack cocaine and heroin.
The drugs were valued at around £2,200.
Kyle Butters
(Image: West Yorkshire Police)
Butters was part of a group that burgled copper wiring from a block of Bradford flats.
The crime left residents living there homeless while the gang bragged on TikTok. Set against a background of Akon’s ‘Smack That’ a compilation of videos showing the theft from the City Exchange building was posted on the social media app. One of the videos, posted on an account with the name “Bfdcharva,” featured was captioned “f*** the trackers” and another featured 20-year-old Butters who was handed two-and-a-half years for his part.
Jack Frankland
(Image: © Cheshire Police / SWNS)
Rapist Frankland was put behind bars after his brave victim recorded him admitting to the crime.
The then 17-year-old had sex with the teenage girl despite her protests. She was then able to secretly record parts of a conversation between them where he apologised for “raping her.” He was jailed for 32 months and a further 16 months for a separate theft offence.
Erjon Xheladinaj
(Image: West Yorkshire Police)
Xheladinaj was jailed for four years for his part in a sophisticated cannabis growing conspiracy which could have netted criminals over £500,000.
The organisers used false identity documents to rent houses and set up cannabis factories by digging out spaces underground and using wardrobe doors to conceal access to loft spaces.
William Francis
(Image: South Yorkshire Police)
Francis – the last member of the gang behind the UK’s biggest ever prison drugs smuggling conspiracy – was finally jailed in January. He was handed three years and 11 months for his part, months after fellow inmate Joseph Whittingham and his girlfriend Amy Hatfield – a mental health support worker at HMP Lindholme in Doncaster – were jailed.
Sheffield Crown Court heard in October how the gang worked to smuggle over £1million worth of drugs, knives and mobile phones into the grounds of the Doncaster prison. Francis had previously pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply class A and B drugs and conspiracy to convey drugs into prison.
Ryan Baskerville
(Image: West Yorkshire Police)
Paedophile Baskerville was put behind bars for seven years after a court heard how he preyed on a young boy and abused him over two years.
His sick crimes came to light after his victim spoke out and he was arrested.
Ako Hussain Pur
(Image: South Yorkshire Police)
Pur sexually assaulted a six-year-old girl in her own home in a sick attack. He was undertaking building work at the property and had entered the girl’s bedroom before sexually assaulting her. He told her not to tell anyone and when he was confronted by her father, denied everything.
He was found guilty of sexual penetration of a child under 13 and jailed for seven years.
Troy Wildin
(Image: South Yorkshire Police)
Wildin attacked an elderly woman in a wheelchair after she withdrew money from a cash machine.
Members of the public bravely stepped in and gave when they saw what had happened. They managed to detain him before police arrived and the woman’s bag and its contents were handed back to her.
Wildin was jailed for three years and three months.
Kelly Firth, Ashley Metcalf, Michael Hughes and Shaun Fitzgerald
Cheese thieves Firth, Metcalf, Hughes and Fitzgerald were all jailed after they carried out a string of thefts from shops across Doncaster. Firth stole over £400 worth of products from the same One Stop shop and snatched jars of coffee, tubs of butter and blocks of cheese over five months.
She was jailed for three months. Metcalf stole from a Savers and a petrol station during his spree with cost shops £405. He was jailed for four months. Hughes was jailed for three months and one week after being caught on CCTV stealing from a One Stop shop in Balby and Fitzgerald was handed four-weeks in prison for stealing multiple packets of cheese and several jars of coffee from a Co-op in Bessacarr.
Steven Bowen
(Image: SYP)
Bowen, 36, was banned from Sheffield city centre for two years and put behind bars for four weeks after being convicted of offences of theft, shoplifting and being drunk and disorderly.
Ryan Stocks
(Image: South Yorkshire Police)
Thief Stocks took an angle grinder to steal items from a business before leading police on a chase at speeds of up to 70mph in 30mph zones.
He went with another man and stole items worth around £6,000 before the dramatic chase which lasted six minutes and 30 seconds. He was jailed for 38 months.
Habib-Ur Rehman
(Image: West Yorkshire Police)
Bradford man Rehman was jailed after causing a young girl psychological damage that could be “lifelong.”
A judge praised the girl after Rehman was found guilty of rape, sexual activity with a child and attempting to engage in sexual activity. He was jailed for 14 years and ordered to serve an extended licence period of a year.
Waheen Yaseen and Nelson Ndikumana
![Waheen Yaseen, [left] and Nelson Ndikumana have been jailed](https://i2-prod.examinerlive.co.uk/incoming/article28446837.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_Untitled-design-2024-01-15T095914754.jpg)
(Image: West Yorkshire Police)
Yaseen and Ndikumana were put behind bars in January after officers executed warrants at two addresses and discovered £18,000 worth of crack cocaine and heroin. Another property linked to three men arrested was searched and officers found a black handgun and three nine-milimetre round.
Yaseen was jailed for ten years and six months and Ndikumana was handed 25 months.
Samuel Luke Boyle
(Image: West Yorkshire Police)
Jealous Boyle subjected his terrified partner to violence and abuse during their relationship – even controlling what she wore.
A court heard he would stop the woman going out with friends and would not let her wear low-cut tops or tight jeans and would “constantly” check her phone. She also said there had been too many instances of violence to count. He was jailed for two-and-a-half years.
Jonathan Montgomery
(Image: West Yorkshire Police)
Sick paedophile Montgomery forced his victims to go through a trial after abusing them three decades ago.
He was found guilty of one charge of rape and two of indecent assault and jailed for six years. Bradford Crown Court heard he committed the offences when he was between the ages of 14 and 16.
John Haase
(Image: South Yorkshire Police)
Pensioner Haase travelled from Liverpool to Sheffield to set a car on fire after demanding thousands of pounds from a family.
When the owners refused to hand over the cash he returned five days later and set fire to a Range Rover parked outside their home. It spread to the garage and then to the house, causing extensive damage. He had previously been jailed for 22 years for perverting the course of justice and was ordered to serve the rest of that as well as the nine years imposed for committing arson with intent.
James Metcalfe
(Image: West Yorkshire Police)
Kirklees rapist Metcalfe was put behind bars for 12 years after being found guilty of four counts of rape and one of sexual activity with a child.
Bradford Crown Court heard how his sick offending against two girls between 15 and 17-years-old came to light when one bravely reported him in 2019.
Ian Mitchell and Sarah Pearson
(Image: West Yorkshire Police)
(Image: West Yorkshire Police)
Sick Pearson and Mitchell murdered his stepfather Stephen Kershaw and then went on a bender with his money.
The cruel couple were caught on CCTV buying items at shops including JD Sports and River Island while Mr Kershaw’s body was stuffed in an alcove in his own bedroom. After they were arrested, Pearson told a man she had sex with what they had done. She went on to admit the crime to two prison officers and was also recorded in a prison van discussing it with Mitchell.
They were both handed life sentences with minimum terms of 22 years for Mitchell and 19 years for Pearson.
Stefan Rusnak
(Image: West Yorkshire Police)
Rusnak told a teenage boy he was a “crazy guy” before stealing his mobile phone and robbing another person at knifepoint. He had asked his first victim for the time before going on to steal the phone.
In a separate offence he targeted another teenager – this time with a group – and threatened him with a knife and demanded he hand over his property. The group took a necklace, his money and bus pass but the necklace was passed back due to the boy saying it had sentimental value.
Rusnak was jailed for four years and three months.
Anthony Fallows
Sick predator Fallows was jailed for seven years and nine months in January after being found guilty of engaging in sexual activity with a girl between the ages of 13 and 15.
It was said the offences took place in the Southowram area.
James Shaw
(Image: West Yorkshire Police)
Shaw was put behind bars for three years and eight months for his part in a drive-by shooting where a teenage boy was shot in the back in a case of mistaken identity.
The teenager was minding his own business when Shaw and his associates pulled up alongside him in their car and shot him. A police investigation spanning five years found those responsible had approached the victim by mistake thinking he was someone else.
Voltes Rexho and Serxhio Gjoshi
![Voltes Rexho [left] and Serxhio Gjoshi have been jailed](https://i2-prod.examinerlive.co.uk/incoming/article28500261.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_Untitled-design-2024-01-23T171918102.jpg)
(Image: West Yorkshire Police)
A police call-out to reports of a burglary in Dick Lane, Bradford led to the discovery of a huge cannabis operation which could have netted criminals almost £500,000 on the streets.
When officers arrived they found Rexho and Gjoshi on the roof and a police helicopter became involved. Eventually they came down and police discovered three rooms which had been converted into a cannabis growing facility with a large number of lights, transformers and hundreds of potted plants.
The plants found had a potential yield of 57 kilograms of cannabis which could have been worth up to £494,000 if sold at street level. Gjoshi was jailed for 32 months and Rexho for 27 months.
Joanne Medley
(Image: South Yorkshire Police)
Sheffield woman Medley was jailed for three years after stashes of class A drugs were found around her home, which was raided under a warrant executed by South Yorkshire Police.
The 53-year-old was arrested and officers found a small bag of heroin in her dressing gown pocket.
After a further search of her home, officers found amphetamine in the kitchen freezer, cocaine in the living room and morphine tablets on the windowsill.
Richard Bowser
(Image: North Yorkshire Police)
Thug Bowser pulled a gun on a reveller at a North Yorkshire pub in a row over a bar bill.
Both were customers at the Tan Hill Inn in July last year when events turned sour and Bowser was asked to leave. He had an altercation with another customer who he slapped on the head and pushed him and another woman before slapping a female member of staff who tried to intervene and pull him away.
Once Bowser left the pub, the door was locked but he returned to a nearby toilet, pulling the gun on the man. It did not fire and the man managed to escape by locking himself in a nearby room but shots were then fired through the door.
He was jailed for 19 years and ordered to serve a four-year extended licence period.
Rachel Marcia
(Image: Greater Manchester Police)
New mum Marcia was jailed after she admitted making over £100,000 by smuggling phones into prisons across the country.
One of the prisons was HMP Lindholme, in Doncaster. A court heard how Marcia worked with Amy Chell to smuggle the prohibited items in while making money.
She was jailed for 20 months.
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