The cases of a speeding biker chef, a man who assaulted his partner on a North Sea ferry crossing, plus other domestic bullies, a drug dealing gambling addict, and a man who was at large for four years while living and working locally have all been dealt with at Durham Crown Court during September.
They are among eight defendants who have been locked up at the court in separate cases over the last month.
Despite the increasing case backlog affecting all courts in the country, cases which have reached sentence have been heard regularly at the court, amid ongoing trials in both court rooms.
A teenager who punched a younger boy in the face and stole his gold necklace during a knifepoint robbery received a custodial sentence on September 2.
Zak Ivory-Lewis was one of four people who pulled up in a car outside a convenience store in Hardwick, Stockton, on March 23 and approached the 15-year-old boy, asking if he was “grafting”, which he took to mean selling drugs, and he said: “No”.
Three other males from the car then approached them and one grabbed the boy’s collar while holding a sharp lock knife to his stomach.
The knife-holder demanded the boy’s Rolex watch, which the victim gave him out of fear.
Ivory-Lewis, who was not holding any bladed implement, then removed the boy’s gold necklace and gave it to the knife holder.
While doing that the 18-year-old threw a punch at the side of the boy's face, before he and his three companions returned to the vehicle.
The defendant, who was not arrested until June, of Mendip Road, Billingham, admitted robbery and received a 16-month sentence in a young offenders’ institution.
Judge Jo Kidd said but for his guilty plea, and lack of maturity, the sentence would have been double.
A man suddenly turned on his relatively new partner in an unprovoked attack on a North Sea ferry crossing.
Jake Andrew Greaves boarded the North Shields to Amsterdam ferry with the woman on March 16 and they enjoyed a few drinks that evening.
But the court was told that on returning to their cabin at about 10pm, Greaves suddenly launched an attack, punching the woman with “full force” in the face while wearing a saddle ring.
Ellen Wright, prosecuting, said he followed it up with a flurry of further punches to the victim’s face, head and neck, using both hands.
The victim estimated she was struck between ten and 15 times in an attack which she said, “came out of nowhere”, and was, “completely unexpected and unprovoked”.
Miss Wright said the badly shaken woman was pushed to the floor, where she was then kicked and stamped on by the defendant, who was wearing shoes.
A bed sheet and towels were covered in blood due to her injuries.
Miss Wright said the victim recalled the defendant saying he “did not give a f*** what happened to her”, adding that he would “punch the living day lights out of her”.
The bloodied woman managed to flee and sought help from ferry staff who gave her a room to stay in, but she felt cut off, as her phone and bank cards remained in the cabin with Greaves.
She was able to borrow a phone from someone else and made contact with her family by social media.
Greaves, 27, of Pearl Close, Chilton, originally denied causing grievous bodily harm with intent at a plea hearing on April 30, but his guilty plea to assault causing actual bodily harm was “accepted” by the Crown, on August 1.
Judge Jo Kidd told Greaves at the sentencing hearing on September 2 that he launched a sustained, unprovoked attack in which the victim suffered a fractured elbow and numerous facial and other injuries.
She imposed a total 36-month prison sentence, including five months activated from the suspended sentence.
But she also made him subject to a restraining order, prohibiting him from contacting or approaching the victim, “until further order.”
A violent thug struck a man in the face with a wheel brace shattering six of his teeth, a court heard.
Mitchell Blackwood appeared before the court on September 4 after admitting assaulting a man in a confrontation in Consett, in the early hours of May 19, 2022.
He also faced sentence after admitting breaking into a house in Dipton, near Stanley, and smashing up furniture while uttering threats, in October last year.
Martin Towers, prosecuting, said there was not a “straightforward chronology” as to how the cases progressed through the court system and he was unable to fully explain the reason for the delay.
Thirty-year-old Blackwood, of St John’s Terrace, Dipton, was before the court for sentence after admitting one count each of assault causing actual bodily harm, possession of an offensive weapon and burglary with intent to cause unlawful damage.
Imposing prison sentences of ten and 20 months, Judge Richard Clews said they must be served consecutively, giving the total 30-month (two-and-a-half years) prison term.
Under the terms of a restraining order, Blackwood is prohibited from contacting or approaching the burglary victim for three years.
An "immature" young man was told he could have killed his neighbour in a baseball attack amid a late-night noise row outside their respective homes.
Ben Doyle emerged from his home in Darlington, with the bat, struck his neighbour "hard and around the head", following up with a further blow as he lay on the ground unconscious.
The court was told Doyle earlier threw a bottle from his home towards the neighbour who had been remonstrating outside, in the early hours of June 21, last year.
Robin Turton, prosecuting, said Doyle's second blow with the bat was also to the neighbour's head, by which time he was, "flat out cold".
Mr Turton said other neighbours witnessed the “shocking incident” and the police were called.
Doyle and his partner, at the time, tried to rouse the unconscious victim, but were unsuccessful.
They then left the scene by car, and Doyle was dropped off ten to 15 minutes away, in the Firth Moor area.
The victim was taken to hospital with a fractured skull and haemorrhages.
Mr Turton said officers were making efforts to trace Doyle when he handed himself in at a police station on June 23, two days after the incident.
The 23-year-old defendant, who was aged 22 at the time, initially denied
causing grievous bodily harm with intent, but admitted causing grievous bodily harm, without the “intent” element, plus possession of an offensive weapon.
On the day of his scheduled trial, in late May this year, Doyle, formerly of Coxwold Drive, Darlington, changed plea and admitted causing gbh with intent.
Judge Richard Clews passed a prison sentence totalling three years and nine months (45 months) on Doyle.
He also made him subject of a five-year restraining order relating to the victim.
A man who injected steroids to “bulk up” his body was quick to flare up and turn to violence during a four-month relationship.
Christopher Gledhill has previous offences for violence on ex-partners and was the subject of a Clare’s Law domestic violence disclosure request by the victim of his latest offending.
The court was told the victim described Gledhill as, “insecure, jealous and immature”, and unable to control his temper.
He at one point accepted he needed help, but when she agreed with him, he threatened to smash up the house and pulled the door from its hinges, before throwing his partner onto the bed.
Gledhill began to throttle her, placing his hands tightly around her neck for four to five seconds, before trying to headbutt her.
He demanded the woman’s phone and threatened to stab her, before locking all the doors and slapping her.
In a bid to appease him she said they should go to a garage to buy some alcohol but when he got out of the car, she took the opportunity to ring her parents who contacted the police.
Gledhill was arrested and gave a “no comment” interview with police.
But the 33-year-old defendant of Hylton Terrace, Pelton, admitted charges of controlling and coercive behaviour in a relationship, intentional strangulation, plus two counts each of assault and damaging property, when he appeared at a plea hearing.
Imposing a 30-month prison sentence, Judge Clews also made Gledhill subject of an indefinite restraining order forbidding him from contacting or approaching his, now ex-partner.
A man’s bid to fund his gambling debt and addiction by turning to drug dealing has failed to pay off, a court heard.
Raymond Mellis is starting a 31-month prison sentence at the age of 60, after his activities dealing in illicit class A and B drugs came to light following a police raid at his home.
The court was told officers executed a search warrant at the ground floor single bedroom flat in Laurel Gardens, Crook, on March 1, 2023.
Deborah Smithies, prosecuting, said three phones were found in the bedroom, one under a pillow, where a wallet containing £3,020 was also discovered.
A bag of powder, later confirmed to be cocaine, plus 20 snap bags each containing an amount of the class A drug were recovered from a wooden unit in the bedroom.
Opening the wardrobe, a plastic container was found containing £3,040, with a further £110 recovered from another drawer.
A large amount of cannabis was found in one plastic tub, while remnants of the class B drug were found in another.
Miss Smithies said the collective value of the cocaine in sales terms was put at between £1,920 and £1,980, while the cannabis value was put at between £3,675 and £4,625.
Messaging found on the phones was indicative of Mellis’s involvement in dealing to individual customers, between October 2022 and March 2023.
The 60-year-old defendant, of Laurel Gardens, admitted possession of class A and B drugs with intent to supply, plus possession of criminal property, relating to the seized money, at a hearing last month.
Judge Kidd said under the latest sentencing regime, Mellis would serve 40 per cent of the sentence of the 31 months behind bars before being eligible for release on licence supervision.
She also ordered forfeiture of the £6,370 seized by police and forfeiture and destruction of the drugs and paraphernalia recovered by police in the raid.
A chef has been jailed for his “appalling” driving on a powerful motorbike in a 33-mile police chase while suspected to be under the influence of cannabis.
Dean Bruce was riding a Kawasaki 600cc machine bearing false registration plates which came to police attention in Bishop Auckland, shortly after 2pm on Sunday February 23.
The court heard that over the next half-hour the uninsured driver travelled at high speeds, weaving in and out of traffic, dangerously overtaking and undertaking, causing oncoming vehicles to swerve or brake sharply to avoid a collision, and taking roundabouts in the wrong direction, all in a bid to outrun the police.
Jonny Walker, prosecuting, said despite at times passing through residential areas, Bruce’s speeds often exceeded 80-miles per hour and reached a peak at 110mph, while there were several “near misses”, all in wet road conditions.
The pursuit from Bishop Auckland took in the A68 and the A1(M) and spanned the Durham force boundary into the Northumbria area.
Although the on-the-ground pursuers abandoned the chase due to the dangerous high speeds, aerial observation was maintained by a police helicopter, and Bruce was eventually detained at an address in Wallsend.
The 30-year-old defendant, of no fixed abode, but who was working in a hotel in Northumberland at the time, admitted dangerous driving, fraudulent use of a registration plate, no insurance or licence, plus possession of cannabis.
Judge Richard Clews told Bruce: “This was, quite frankly, an appalling piece of driving, among the worst I have ever come across.
“It covered more than 33 miles between Bishop Auckland and Wallsend, over half-an-hour on several roads, including the A1 and many built up areas, in heavy traffic.
"You completely ignored the rules of the road, not only causing great inconvenience but great danger, and significant danger to those police officers pursuing you."
Imposing a 15-month prison sentence, the judge also banned Bruce from driving for two years and seven-and-a-half months.
Bruce must also pass an extended re-test if he is to legally drive once his period of disqualification expires.
A fugitive at large for more than four-and-a-half years is now back behind bars following a police car stop last month.
Dylan Brown was in possession of a false driving licence and bank card, in the name of a friend from schooldays, when police spoke to him after stopping a vehicle in which he was travelling, at Rushyford, on August 1.
The court was told an officer cross-referenced photographs on police systems and he and a colleague were satisfied they were speaking to Brown and not the man named on the documents.
Martin Towers, prosecuting, said upon his arrest, Brown told the officers: “It took you four-and-a-half years, didn’t it?”
He told the officers he, “had a good run”, as he had previously been stopped, without any further action, on May 21.
Brown was released on licence in 2018 from a 12-year prison sentence, with three years’ extended licence, imposed in March 2013, for a knifepoint wounding.
But, he was recalled to prison in 2021.
He failed to surrender to that recall request and, when interviewed after his eventual arrest last month, he told police he had created a new life for himself following his release in 2018 and had led an otherwise law-abiding life since.
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The now 34-year-old defendant, of Cedar Terrace, West Cornforth, admitted charges of remaining unlawfully at large after recall to prison and possessing false identity documents, plus a summary matter of obstructing a police officer in the execution of his duty, relating to his eventual arrest.
Judge Jo Kidd imposed a two-year prison sentence and told Brown he would be released on licence after about the half-way stage.
But the court heard he is still subject of Parole Board hearing over his breach of licence.
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