A FAILED businessman become the sixth and final member of an organised crime ring operating in Bradford to be put behind bars this month.
Richard Beech was jailed for five years for laundering £5 million of drugs money for the gang.
He made frequent trips between his home in Manchester and West Yorkshire to collect and deliver large amounts of cash concealed in hidden compartments under the seats of his specially modified Range Rover.
He was labelled the “cash converter and banker” for the organisation led by Rashid Ashraf (also known as Mohammed Rashid) who was jailed for 18 years.
Ashraf, 40, of Leeds Old Road, Heckmondwike, had the personalised number plate PI5TOL on his C63 AMG Mercedes-Benz. He admitted conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, possession of criminal property and con-spiracy to possess prohibited weapons and ammunition.
Beech, 46, of Urmston Lane, Stretford, Manchester, pleaded guilty to possession of criminal property and transferring criminal property.
Prosecutor Alasdair Campbell said that Beech played “a crucial role” in the organisation. He was observed in Bradford on many occasions in his Range Rover collecting bags containing bundles of banknotes. A ledg-er seized by the police from his home showed the full extent of his money laundering activity.
Beech was arrested on April 29 heading back to Manchester from Bradford along the M62 at 3.30pm. Bags of money were hidden in the compartments of the Range Rover and he was in possession of an encrypted phone.
The police seized the ledger, a heat-sealing machine, a cash counting machine, and more cash from his home, making a total haul of £195,770 that day.
Beech’s barrister, Rodney Ferm, said: “This was not his cash. He was at all times an employee of those above him.”
He fell into criminality after his business failed badly.
The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Richard Mansell QC, told Beech: “This was sophisticated and sustained money laundering. You were the cash converter and banker.”
The other four men sentenced at Bradford Crown Court this month were:
• Rizwan Shah, 27, of Fairbank Terrace, Girlington, Bradford, who was photographed holding a gun. He admitted possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply, possession of criminal property and possession of prohibited firearms and ammunition. He was jailed for ten years.
• Raja Altaf, 28, of St Mary’s Terrace, Manningham, Bradford, was sentenced to seven years after he admitted possession with intent to supply cocaine and dangerous driving.
• Yaser Nazir, 37, of Lindley Road, Little Horton, Bradford, was sentenced to five years and three months after admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine.
• Mohammed Haleem, 39, of Reginald Street, Little Horton, Bradford, was sentenced to three years and four months after admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine.
After Beech was sentenced, the police said that more than 25kg of Class A drugs with a combined street value of up to £3m, four semi-automatic pistols (with 200 rounds of ammunition), four silencers, and £300,000 in cash were seized during the investigation.
It was launched by Programme Precision which sees West Yorkshire Police working together and with partners to combat serious and organised crime.
Working on intelligence gathered, officers stopped an Audi A3 in the Girlington area on February 20. Shah was the driver and 5kg of high purity cocaine, with a street value of up to £400,000, and £50,000 in cash was found.
Further enquiries led to another address where 11kg of cocaine and 3 kg of heroin was discovered. Four guns and 50 rounds of ammunition were also seized.
In March, a taxi being driven by Altaf was found to contain 2kg of high purity cocaine worth up to £160,000, and a vehicle occupied by Haleem and Nazir, stopped in the Little Horton area, had 1kg of high purity cocaine on board. Another 2kgs of cocaine were found in Haleem’s house.
Ashraf was seen driving his distinctive Mercedes in the Manchester Road area of Bradford. When stopped by officers he was found to have 1kg of high purity cocaine with a street value of up to £80,000 with him. The team searched another vehicle linked to him and found another 3kg of cocaine with a street value of £160,000.
Detective Superintendent Carl Galvin, of Protective Services (Crime) and the Programme Precision lead, said: “To achieve this result took a whole team effort, with Programme Precision staff working alongside colleagues from across West Yorkshire Police to bring these offenders to justice.
“These sentences have dealt a considerable blow to serious and organised criminality in Bradford and West Yorkshire.
“This was a highly organised team of criminals trafficking significant amounts of class A drugs.
“People may have seen the likes of Ashraf flouting their ill-gotten gains thinking they were ‘untouchable’.
“What this proves is that no one is untouchable – those who involve themselves in this form of criminality can expect the Programme Precision team to take significant action against them.
“The criminals will be forever looking over their shoulder and because of the detailed investigation into this group, a significant amount of drugs have been taken off of the streets.
“Money which these criminals lined their pockets with has been confiscated and four guns (and 200 rounds of ammunition) which could have caused immense harm in our communities have been taken off the streets of West Yorks.
A DRUG dealer caught three times selling crack cocaine on the streets in less than a month was jailed for two years and four months.
Joshua Pilcher, 33, of Norwood Road, Shipley, was under pressure to deal Class A drugs after running up a debt to feed his £20 a day heroin addiction, the court heard.
He pleaded guilty to possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply on September 17 and October 1 and 5.
Pilcher also admitted possession of heroin with intent to supply on September 17 and October 5, and three offences of possession of criminal property, totalling £1,403.
Prosecutor Graham O’Sullivan said the first set of offences took place at 9.20am when the police saw a drug deal taking place on Coach Road, Baildon. Officers followed Pilcher, who was driving a Toyota Corolla, into Bradford and detained him.
He was in possession of 150 wraps of crack cocaine and heroin and £96 in cash.
Pilcher admitted street dealing to pay off a debt he had run up to feed his £20 a day heroin addiction.
Mr O’Sullivan said that Pilcher was arrested again on October 1 at 8.35pm. This time he was heading for Main Street, Bingley, in a black Volkswagen car when he pulled out in front of police officers, almost collid-ing with their vehicle.
He had 20 wraps of crack cocaine with him and £507 in cash.
He made no comment in interview but a phone seized from him had evidence of drug dealing on it.
Four days later, Pilcher was caught drug dealing again at 6.54pm on Ferncliffe Road, Bingley, in the same car he was arrested in the last time.
He tried to drive off but dropped 20 wraps of crack cocaine and heroin out of the vehicle window. He also had £797 in cash on him.
This time he was remanded in custody and sentenced on a video link to HMP Leeds.
Pilcher’s solicitor advocate, Nicholas Leadbeater, said he had weaned himself off heroin but became de-pressed during the Covid-19 lockdown and returned to drug abuse.
He was performing a limited function under the direction of others and there was an element of pressure, coercion and intimidation.
Pilcher had no previous convictions and his naivety had been exploited.
Judge Andrew Hatton said he was peddling misery on the streets of West Yorkshire, persisting after twice being released under police investigation.
He conceded that there was an element of pressure and said Pilcher’s previous good character was an important mitigating factor.
A TRAINEE mechanic was jailed for three years for burgling a house at dead of night and trying to smash his way into another home in broad daylight.
Saif Ahmed was one of a gang that broke into an address in Ashfield Crescent, Bingley, in the early hours of October 23 while a couple and their children were asleep.
Prosecutor Robert Stevenson said that Ahmed, 22, of Midland Road, Manningham, Bradford, was on licence at the time and had been recalled to prison.
The burglars stole a handbag and a black BMW 3 series worth £15,000 from the property.
Five days later, the car was used in an attempted housebreaking at 1.30pm on Thorpe Lane in Guiseley.
The male householder heard a loud bang as the gang tried to smash their way into his home. They carried on attempting to force their way in even after he had banged on the window. One of the males then made a one finger gesture at him.
The rear door lock was snapped and the intruders had then tried to kick their way in.
Three suspects in face coverings were seen outside and it was believed they were after a Mercedes car, Mr Stevenson said.
The males made off in the BMW stolen from the house in Bingley. It was seen on Toller Lane, Bradford, on false plates and pursued by the police across the city at high speed until it went down a steep embankment on to a cycle path.
The car was abandoned with the engine running and a police drone found the suspects hiding in bushes nearby. Discarded balaclavas were also discovered.
Ahmed had six previous convictions for 13 offences, including house burglary. He was on licence from a 22 month jail sentence for handling stolen goods and dangerous driving.
He pleaded guilty to burglary, theft of the BMW and attempted burglary and was sentenced on a video link to Leeds Prison.
Ahmed’s barrister, Andrew Semple, conceded that a custodial sentence was inevitable.
Ahmed had been training as a mechanic when he fell into significant cannabis use and ran up a debt. He was then under pressure to repay his dealer.
He had reflected on his offending while on remand under lockdown and wanted to make a fresh start by taking a bricklaying course.
Mr Semple said Ahmed did not make the one finger gesture to the householder. There was no ransacking of the Bingley house it was “limited intrusion to get the keys.”
Judge Andrew Hatton said both the properties were occupied and one had young children in it. Ahmed was part of a group or gang and the stolen BMW was used in the second offence.
He had a previous conviction for house burglary and was on licence at the time.
A TEENAGE drug dealer caught with 72 wraps of heroin and crack cocaine in Bradford city centre was locked up for 27 months.
Amaad Asif was sentenced almost two years after he was arrested aged 18 for peddling drugs in North Parade on the late afternoon of December 5, 2018.
Asif, now 20, of Walmer Villas, Manningham, Bradford, pleaded guilty to possession of heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply and possession of criminal property.
Prosecutor Peter Byrne said that he was seen selling drugs to a known addict.
Police officers on duty in the city centre at 5.20pm watched the drug user phoning Asif who turned up to clinch the sale.
He had 40 wraps of crack cocaine of 57% purity and 32 wraps of heroin of 51% purity in his fleece jacket, plus £52 in cash.
A search of his bedroom uncovered a further £2,074 in cash and dealer cards with a name and number on them.
Mr Byrne asked the court to make a confiscation order in the sum of £2,127 and for the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs.
Asif’s barrister, Shufqat Khan, said he was 18 at the time with no previous convictions and he had stayed out of trouble in the two years since his arrest.
The court was handed a probation report and two references.
Mr Khan said Asif had worked in a call centre but lost his employment and began associating with older men. They allowed him to smoke their cannabis free of charge and then led him into Class A drug dealing.
Asif genuinely regretted what he had done and was very remorseful.
He was the only person in his hardworking and law abiding family to become involved in crime.
Mr Khan said Asif’s father was held in high regard in his business running restaurants and takeaways. His son knew he had brought shame on him and the rest of the family.
He was now living back at home with his parents and he would be found work in the restaurant trade.
Mr Khan said Asif had always intended to plead guilty to the offences but had not been summoned to court by postal requisition until this October.
Judge Andrew Hatton said he and others like him peddled misery on the streets of Bradford.
He sentenced him to 27 months’ detention in a young offender institution.
A Keighley man was jailed for 21 years for the rape and indecent assault of a child.
Brian Willoughby, 51, of North Dean Road, was found guilty of five offences including rape and several in-decent assaults of one female victim, between 2000 and 2003.
In 2005, she disclosed that she had been sexually abused as a child and then in 2014, she came forward to speak to the police and report the offences.
Willoughby was subsequently arrested and charged with multiple offences.
He was sentenced to 21 years in prison and given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for life.
After the case, Detective Constable Donna Hector, of Bradford Safeguarding Unit, said: “The sentence handed down to Willoughby reflects the horrendous crimes and trauma he inflicted on his victim.
“I would like to praise the incredible courage and bravery of the victim. She is truly remarkable and has not only endured abuse throughout her childhood, but was forced to endure a gruelling court case where she had to give evidence and relive her trauma.
“We have supported her throughout the process and I truly hope she is now able to get some closure from these incidents and move forward.”
A MAN was jailed for 14 years and his female accomplice for seven years after an aggravated burglary at a flat in Bradford city centre.
Jason Anderson, 38, of HMP Leeds, was labelled “a very experienced and hardened criminal” by the Recorder of Bradford, Judge Richard Mansell QC.
Anderson was imprisoned for offences of Class A drug dealing, robbery, aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article.
He was locked up for two years for supplying heroin to an undercover police officer on March 5 and 12, 2019, for three years for robbery and nine years for aggravated burglary, all the sentences to run consecutively.
Colette Walsh, 33, of Low Newton Remand Centre, was jailed for 12 months for supplying heroin and crack cocaine on April 11, 2019, and for six years for the aggravated burglary. She was also sentenced for at-tempted theft and using a stolen bank card.
Prosecutor David McGonigal said both defendants were involved in the aggravated burglary in the early hours of June 15 last year.
Walsh gained entry into the victim’s home at around 5.30am after offering him sexual services.
She then let in Anderson and a youth aged 17 after stealing the man’s wallet and phone.
Anderson then beat the victim with a stick while Walsh rifled through his pockets and the teenager hot him with a metal bar.
The youth, Hasad Shafiq, now 19, was last month locked up for seven and a half years for his role in the aggravated burglary and two street robberies.
When the victim’s housemates heard his cries for help they rushed to his aid, Mr McGonigal said.
Anderson then swung a large pair of scissors around, cutting one of the men on the hand.
All three intruders then ran out of the property and were arrested soon afterwards.
The victim sustained a lump to his head, a swollen cheekbone and marks to his back.
Anderson and Walsh, both long-standing drug addicts with criminal records, pleaded guilty to all the of-fences.
Ashok Khullar, representing Anderson, said he was working as a plasterer. He relapsed into crack cocaine use when he was laid off.
The court heard that both he and Walsh had been remanded in custody for 18 months.
Camille Morland, for Walsh, said she had taken exams in prison while on remand.
She had been addicted to Class A drugs for 15 years and knew she faced a lengthy jail sentence.
Judge Mansell said the aggravated burglary was a planned set-up. Walsh lured the man back to his home and then let in Anderson and Shafiq. They beat him with weapons while Walsh rifled through his pockets.
A JUDGE warned that those who traffic heroin and cocaine on the streets of Bradford will go to prison as he jailed two young men caught red-handed selling drugs.
Mohammed Arif and Mohammed Khokhar, both 21, were arrested from a car containing 33 wraps of Class A drugs, £300 in cash and a rounders bat.
Arif, of Meadowbank Avenue, Allerton, Bradford, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply Class A drugs on December 17 last year.
He had a previous conviction for possession of an offensive weapon and, in March 2018, he was sent to a young offender institution for two years for possession with intent to supply crack cocaine and heroin.
Khokhar, of Haworth Road, Heaton, Bradford, was convicted by a jury after a trial of two offences of being concerned in the supplying of Class A drugs. He had no previous convictions.
Jailing Arif for three years and four months and Khokhar for two and a half years, Recorder Simon Eck-ersley said only immediate jail sentences met the justice of the case.
Khokhar was driving Arif around so that he could sell the heroin and crack cocaine on the streets.
Prosecutor Rebecca Young said Arif had 17 wraps of heroin and 16 wraps of crack cocaine in his posses-sion when he was arrested. The value of the drugs was £258.
The police also seized a rounders bat from the vehicle.
Arif’s barrister, Camille Morland, said he was repaying a debt to his drug dealer after his release from his sentence of detention for trafficking drugs. He was under pressure to repay £500 and working to clear the debt.
There was no evidence of high living and the cash the police found in the car wasn’t his.
Arif, who worked as a joiner, had now been in custody on remand for almost 12 months, much of it during the 23 hour a day Covid-19 lockdown.
Khokhar’s barrister, Jonathan Turner, said he was of previous good character and had never taken drugs.
He planned to study business at Manchester University but the conviction would hamper that ambition.
Khokhar was very remorseful and only too aware that he had brought shame on his hardworking family.
Recorder Eckersley said Khokhar was a young man with ability who had led an otherwise hard working and law abiding life.
Arif’s position was aggravated by his previous conviction for selling Class A drugs.
A MAN aged 22 was jailed for four years for drug dealing and dangerous driving.
Danyaal Hussain was twice caught trafficking crack cocaine and heroin in Bradford, the second time when he flung the drugs from a black Vauxhall Meriva being pursued by the police.
Hussain, of HMP Leeds, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply heroin, crack cocaine and skunk cannabis on October 13 last year. He also admitted simple possession of cannabis and possession of £3,210 criminal property.
He was released by the police under investigation and committed the second set of offences on January 3.
Hussain pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and possession of heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply in relation to those matters.
Prosecutor Clare Walsh said the October, 2019, offences came to light when Hussain was stopped in a blue Vauxhall Corsa on Wapping Road, Bradford, at 10.40pm.
He gave a false name and address and was found to have 74 small packages of Class A drugs with him, £890 in banknotes and £80 worth of coins.
Texts on a seized phone were evidence of street drug dealing.
A car key in Hussain’s possession led the police to a black Mercedes parked in Rochester Street, Bradford Moor. In the vehicle were three bags of cannabis, two phones and £2,200 in cash.
Hussain made no comment in his police interview.
On January 3, he was pursued by the police in the Vauxhall Meriva along Leeds Old Road in Bradford at 12.20pm.
He threw a bag of drugs from the vehicle during the three minute chase in which he narrowly missed col-liding with other vehicles. He crashed into large pieces of stone on Barkerend Road and was blocked in by the police and arrested.
The front nearside tyre of the Meriva was shredded and the car had been travelling on the wheel rim, scoring deep scratches in the road surface.
Hussain’s barrister, Christopher Moran, said he had no previous convictions.
He was in debt to the wrong people at the time and felt he had let his supportive family down.
Hussain wanted to do a barbers’ course in custody to get work when he was released.
He had insight into his offending and was very remorseful, Mr Moran said.
Judge Colin Burn jailed Hussain for a total of three years and four months for the drugs offences and eight months to run consecutively for the dangerous driving.
He was banned from driving for three years.
THREE teenagers were locked up for a "terrifying" knifepoint robbery.
Byron Bell, 18, of Wrose Road, Bradford; Mohammed Fellows, 19, of Granville Road, Bradford; and Liam Karolyi, 18, of Morrison Avenue in Rotherham, were charged by police after targeting a vulnerable adult.
The incident happened on April 11 this year when the suspects entered a flat on Aireville Road in Keighley. One of them pinned their 57-year-old male victim down on his bed and held a knife to his throat while the others stole the TV from his room.
The victim suffered a cut to his neck which required surgery as a result of the incident.
All three were found guilty following a trial.
Fellows was locked up for eight years, Bell for seven years and four months, and Karolyi for two years and nine months.
Detective Inspector Suzanne Hall, of Bradford District CID, said: “We are pleased with the result and the sentence which has been handed down to all three of these defendants.
“They targeted a vulnerable adult in his own home and subjected him to a terrifying ordeal, threatening him with a knife and stealing his property. The victim was left incredibly distressed as a result of the incident.”
A BRADFORD woman was jailed for five years for possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.
Jane Bateman, 30, of Clervaux Court, Clayton, was charged in December last year following a full investigation. She pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis with intent to supply but denied supplying cocaine. She was found guilty after a trial.
In December, 2018, a warrant was executed at her home. Bateman was aggressive to attending officers and threatened them with a knife. She was arrested and a large amount of cocaine was seized from the property.
She was jailed for five years for possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and a further 18 months, to run concurrently, for possession with intent to supply Class B drugs.
A FORMER employee at Buzz Bingo in Bradford was jailed for 20 months for stealing £95,600 from the company.
Christopher France pleaded guilty to the offence at the city’s magistrates’ court and was sent to Bradford Crown Court for sentence.
France, of Staincliffe Road, Dewsbury Moor, Dewsbury, stole the cash between January 13 and May 17 last year.
The case was adjourned in November because there was no report from the probation service.
At that hearing, France’s barrister, Robin Frieze, said he was a man of previous good character who had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
Mr Frieze conceded that the case crossed the custody threshold because France had stolen from his employer.
Judge Jonathan Rose said only a sentence of immediate custody was appropriate.
A MAN was jailed for 16 years after stabbing a man twice in the abdomen with a flick knife in the street causing a life-threatening injury.
Amr Raheem, 23, attacked his victim in East Parade, Keighley, on February 8, pouncing and stabbing him while he was walking away.
Raheem, of North Dean Road, Keighley, was convicted by a jury at Bradford Crown Court of wounding the man with intent to do him grievous bodily harm.
Sentencing him, the Recorder of Bradford, Judge Richard Mansell QC, said he had been found guilty on the clearest evidence.
The offence in Keighley town centre in broad daylight was captured on CCTV. It was before the Covid-19 lockdown and the streets were teeming with people.
Raheem had been to the gym and was routinely carrying a lethal flick knife he claimed was for self-protection.
His victim, in his mid-20s, had been to Keighley Leisure Centre swimming pool and was walking home via the market to get some food.
He recognised Raheem from school and tapped him on the shoulder from behind. Raheem had head-phones on and reacted badly to the shock. He was verbally abusive and then sneaked up and smashed a half full water bottle into the man’s face.
The man did not react violently, he “took this on the chin” and walked on.
Judge Mansell told Raheem: “You were already spoiling for a fight because you put your hand in your jacket pocket where you kept your flick knife. You turned and offered your hand in an apparent gesture of apology, which he understandably refused.”
Judge Mansell said he was unconvinced that this was a genuine apology but that Raheem was provoking him. When the man punched him once from behind, Raheem flicked his knife open and held it behind his back.
He waited until the man had turned and started walking way and then pounced, stabbing him twice in the side of the abdomen, causing two deep wounds.
Raheem then pursued him around nearby roads for almost four minutes until he collapsed from blood loss.
The victim suffered life-threatening injuries. He was taken by air ambulance to Leeds General Infirmary for surgery.
Judge Mansell said it was a repeated and sustained attack.
Raheem had carried and then used “a wicked knife” in the street when there were people around.
He was already on a suspended prison sentence order from Bolton.
Judge Mansell jailed Raheem for 15 years with the 12 month suspended sentence activated consecutively in full. He was sentenced to two years to run concurrently for possession of a bladed article, making 16 years in all.
A CONVICTED paedophile was jailed for two years and eight months after asking an undercover police officer if he could perform depraved sex acts on two young girls.
Simon Martin, 50, was snared in an internet sting in which the officer pretended to be the mother of children aged 12 and eight.
Martin exchanged messages with her in an internet chatroom in which he called himself “genuine UK perv” and said “no age limit whatsoever.”
Martin, now in Leeds Prison but formerly of Brookfoot Lane, Brighouse, was in breach of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order made at Bolton Crown Court in January, 2013, for attempting to arrange the commission of a child sexual offence.
He also had a previous conviction for making indecent images of children.
Prosecutor David McGonigal said the latest offences took place in June and July this year when Martin began exchanging private messages with “Abby,” a fictitious mother who pretended to have daughters aged eight and 12.
The undercover officer posing as Abby discussed meeting at hotel with Martin so that he could sexually abuse her daughters.
He told her his wife didn’t know what his interest was and that he had had sex with a girl aged 14.
He asked for photos of the 12-year-old, offered to buy her lingerie and sent a picture of his penis for her to look at.
The last contact between Martin and the police officer was on July 6, Mr McGonigal said.
He was arrested ten days later and police seized his computer equipment. On it were 1,092 indecent im-ages of children at Category A, 1,335 at Category B and 1,466 at Category C.
Martin had a special browser to allow him to remain anonymous online and to access the dark web.
He pleaded guilty to two offences of attempting to arrange to meet a child for sexual activity; two breaches of the Sexual Harm Prevention Order; and three offences of possession of indecent images of children.
Martin’s barrister, Andrew Petterson, said the mother and girls were fictitious so there was no harm, or risk of harm, to any child.
He desisted from the behaviour before the police came to arrest him.
Martin had been in custody since July during the Covid-19 prison lockdown.
Judge Colin Burn said previous court orders had “failed to put a lid” on Martin’s child sex offending.
But it was “a matter of significant concern” that the police had not arrested Martin sooner.
His offending was allowed to continue for a couple of weeks with the knowledge, instigation and encouragement of the police officer.
A MAN was jailed for seven years after being convicted of multiple counts of the indecent assault of children.
James Calder, 67, of Fall Brow Close, Clayton, Bradford, was found guilty by a jury after a six-day trial.
The offences dated back to the 1980s and 1990s against four female victims, aged between five and 15-years-old. Police began an investigation after one of them came forward and reported the abuse in August 2016. Calder was then charged with eight counts of indecent assault.
Detective Constable Charlotte Grose, of Bradford Safeguarding Unit, said: “Following a trial at court, we are pleased that Calder was found guilty and sentenced to a lengthy stint in prison for his crimes.
“All four of his victims bravely gave evidence in court and I would like to thank them for their patience throughout the court process and commend their courage for not only coming forward and reporting the abuse they suffered, but also for standing up in court to give their evidence.”
A BURGLAR suffered life-threatening injuries when he grabbed the blade of an ornamental Samurai sword the householder was defending herself with.
Rehan Malik was one of three masked intruders who smashed their way into the property in Avondale Road, Shipley, Bradford, in the early hours of October 25.
Malik, 23, of Wensleydale Road, Thornbury, Bradford, was trying to make off with an Audi S3 but it got stuck in the garage doors.
As he and his two accomplices tried to free the vehicle, he grabbed at the sword the woman was pointing at him to defend herself.
Her partner had picked up the decorative weapon after they were woken when the burglars broke into the kitchen at 5.30am by smashing a UPVC window. He was confronted by a masked man in the kitchen who demanded the car keys.
The householder went upstairs to call the police and grabbed the sword. He stood on the landing with the sheathed weapon to defend himself, prosecutor Clare Walsh said.
When the intruders found the car keys they started the Audi and tried to steal it.
It was then that the woman unsheathed the sword to defend herself and went out to the garage. She pointed it at Malik, who was trying to get away in the Audi, to keep him there until the police arrived.
He grabbed at the blade, cutting both his hands and leaving blood in the car and around the garage.
He and the other two burglars were then driven from the scene in a getaway vehicle.
The police checked up on hospitals in the region and discovered that Malik had sought medical help in Barnsley.
He spent five days in hospital and would have died from blood loss if he had delayed seeking help any longer, the court was told.
He needed blood transfusions and had lost all feeling in both his hands because the nerves were severed, his barrister Shufqat Khan said.
Malik was unable to get the treatment he needed while on remand in prison and might be left permanently disabled.
His cellmate was effectively his carer because he was unable to dress himself or open a can or bottle.
Mr Khan said the life-threatening and life-changing injury had led Malik to decide to change his ways. He had resolved not to commit any more offences.
He was also sentenced for dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and without insurance. Those of-fences predated the burglary and were committed while he was on licence.
Mrs Walsh said Malik was pursued by the police at 9.30am on April 12 at speeds at up to 90mph from Parry Lane to Feather Road in Bradford.
He jumped a red light and mounted the kerb in a Seat car, only stopping when he drove down a dead end.
Malik pleaded guilty to all the offences. He was a third strike housebreaker with previous convictions for house burglary, dangerous driving and theft of vehicles.
Judge Jonathan Rose jailed him for 12 months for dangerous driving and 32 months for the burglary, to run consecutively, making three years and eight months in all.
He was banned from driving for 58 months.
The judge stressed that Malik injured himself by grabbing the blade of the sword. The woman was terrified that he would seize the weapon from her and use it against her. She was totally blameless.
A TEENAGER was locked up for seven years for an armed robbery at a Bradford bookmaker and an aggravated burglary at a couple’s home in the city.
Kyle Medas, 18, of Percival Street, East Bowling, Bradford, committed the robbery at Ladbrokes on Otley Road at around 7.30pm on July 22.
Medas was one of two males who entered the shop wearing dark clothing, hooded tops and balaclavas. He was not armed but his accomplice had a large sword or machete with him.
They both shouted to the staff to fill bags with money and ran from the shop with about £1,000 in cash.
Sentencing Medas, the Recorder of Bradford, Judge Richard Mansell QC, said: “It was your misfortune that two police officers were patrolling the area and had seen you approaching the shop, wearing your disguises and carrying the machete.”
One of them said he was shocked that the offence was being committed in such a brazen manner at 7:30 on a summer’s evening when it was still light.”
The officers called for back-up but when they saw the robbers running off, they gave chase. Medas was apprehended but his accomplice got away.
Medas was also sentenced for a serious aggravated burglary at a house in Bradford on November 26 last year.
Judge Mansell said it was clearly a pre-meditated offence and involved two accomplices who drove Medas to the scene and waited for him in a car.
He was wearing dark clothing, a balaclava and gloves, when he approached the couples’ home.
Medas tried to burn the lock out of the front door with a gas blow torch and when that failed, he burned through the security lock on a window, climbed into the house and crept about searching for valuables to steal.
The male householder heard noises and was confronted on the landing by Medas, wearing a balaclava and holding a knife.
Judge Mansell said: “Although you did not threaten him with it, you had it in your hand so that he could see it and, terrified, he screamed out and shut and locked the door behind him. His wife woke and was equally terrified by this ordeal.”
Medas fled empty-handed but he had left the cigarette lighter used to light the blow torch on the window-sill and a DNA match was obtained.
He also left a muddy footprint in the living room which matched the tread pattern on his training shoes.
Judge Mansell took into account mitigation from Shufqat Khan, Medas’s barrister.
Medas had been bullied and may have ADHD and possible long-term effects from a head injury he sustained as a child.
“I accept that you were vulnerable to exploitation by those more criminally experienced than you but this only goes so far to explain and mitigate your offending, since you have had plenty of intervention from the Youth Offending Team and have increasingly made choices to associate with other criminals and commit crime together,” Judge Mansell said.
Medas had already made 18 separate appearances in the juvenile court and had convictions for over 30 offences including house burglary, robbery and attempted robbery, shop theft and vehicle crime.
He was sent to a young offender institution for four years for the aggravated burglary, two and a half years for the robbery, and six months for possession of the machete as a bladed article. All the sentences were consecutive, making seven years in all.
A MAN was jailed for more than ten years for a “brutal and savage” assault on a resident in a house for the homeless in Bradford.
David Stewart, 33, assaulted Neil Hartley over a period of up to two hours in three rooms at the property in Hopbine Avenue, West Bowling, Bradford, in the early hours of April 12.
He pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent and was imprisoned for ten years and 11 months with a three-year period of extended licence.
Stewart and his co-accused, Jason Cowgill, were both originally charged with attempted murder after Mr Hartley sustained a traumatic brain injury, facial fractures, a stab wound to his arm and bleach burns.
Cowgill, 39, of Hopkinson Drive, Bierley, Bradford, was jailed for two years after admitting an offence of assisting an offender. He cleaned up bloodstains with bleach and water at the house after the attack but took no part in the violence.
The court heard that Stewart had been living at the housing trust accommodation in Hopbine Avenue for five months at the time of the attack.
He rang a key worker at the property at 4.25am to say men had come into the house and he feared for his life.
She raised the alarm and the police and paramedics were quickly on the scene.
Mr Hartley, who the court heard was a vulnerable drug addict, was lying in the kitchen in the recovery position under a blood-soaked duvet. The house smelled strongly of bleach and the floor was covered in water.
He was taken to Leeds General Infirmary and admitted to the intensive care unit.
He was on a ventilator after suffering a very severe brain injury.
The court heard that he had since made a “remarkable recovery” but the injuries would have an impact on him for the rest of his life.
He was also left scarred by the bleach burns.
Stewart had previous convictions for wounding, battery, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and assault on an emergency worker. Cowgill had recently served a jail sentence for Section 20 wounding.
Stephen Wood QC, Stewart’s barrister, conceded that it was a sustained and repeated assault. But Stewart did place Mr Hartley in the recovery position and alert the key worker who called for help.
“The enormity of what he had done hit home,” Mr Wood said.
Tahir Khan QC, for Cowgill, said the clean-up operation did not hamper the police investigation.
Judge Jonathan Rose told Stewart: “It was a brutal and savage protracted assault in which weapons were used.”
Mr Hartley had been kicked with a shod foot and struck with a linear-shaped implement.
It was “an unwarranted, grave, sustained, repeated assault” while Stewart was under the influence of substances.
Cowgill took no part in the assault. He made substantial efforts to clean up blood-staining but his efforts achieved nothing whatsoever. It was inevitable that Stewart would be detected and arrested.
A DESPERATE drug addict was jailed for three years for a robbery at Betfred in Keighley town centre.
James Molloy and an accomplice carrying a large knife snatched £160 from the till at the bookmaker at 7pm on July 25.
Molloy, 45, of Chapel Street, Silsden, near Keighley, was sentenced on a video link to Leeds Prison.
Prosecutor Matthew Bean said he and his accomplice were wearing Covid-19 facemasks when they went into the shop at 6.20pm.
They returned soon afterwards and Molloy was caught on CCTV putting his hood up as he entered the shop where a female staff member was working alone.
The other man clambered over the counter, pushing aside the Perspex security screen and dropping the knife he had with him.
Molloy then leant over the counter and both robbers snatched the cash from the till.
Mr Bean said the staff member was petrified by the incident.
Molloy was arrested the following day after the CCTV footage in the shop was viewed.
He denied any involvement in the robbery, saying he had not been to Keighley town centre that month.
In her victim personal statement, the staff member said she had worked at Betfred for three years and been robbed before but this incident was worse.
She was scared at the time but more frightened when she thought about it afterwards, especially remembering the knife flying across the floor.
She could no longer work alone in the shop and she was thinking about leaving the job she loved.
Molloy had numerous previous convictions for theft and convictions for burglary.
More recently, he had been sentenced for possession with intent to supply cannabis and for driving offences.
Peter Hampton said in mitigation that Molloy sincerely apologised to the staff member. He was a long-term drug addict and committed the robbery out of desperation.
He had been very ill while on remand in prison, suffering a series of strokes and needing open heart surgery.
He had weaned himself off drugs and was determined to make a fresh start.
The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Richard Mansell QC, said Molloy and his accomplice “cased” the shop in their Covid-19 masks to “assess its vulnerability.”
During the robbery, a large knife fell from the other man’s pocket showing that he brought it with him in case it was needed.
Judge Mansell said the robbery had left the staff member with significant psychological harm. She had worked up to 60 hours a week in the shop but was now thinking about leaving the job.
A PERSISTENT child sex offender was jailed for two years for using a browser that concealed his online paedophilia and storing Category A indecent images of little girls.
Daryl Wainwright was made the subject of a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order in January last year following a 29 month jail sentence for two offences of sexual assault on a girl under 13.
He was on licence when the police went to his home in Bradford Road, Brighouse, on November 26 this year and caught him with illegal images of children.
Wainwright, 29, pleaded guilty to possession of two Category A indecent moving images and breach of the Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) by installing a device on his tablet that masked his internet browsing history.
Prosecutor Adam Walker told the court that Wainwright, who was sentenced on a video link to HMP Leeds, was committed to the court in custody after admitting the offences at the magistrates’ court.
He was a registered sex offender after being convicted in Manchester in November 2018 of the sexual assault offences.
Mr Walker said that officers from the Public Protection Unit saw two charger cables connected to a tablet and phone at Wainwright’s address.
He claimed they did not have internet access but the officers saw a conversation on one of them relating to sexual activity with a child. They also discovered an indecent image of a young girl with an adult male.
Wainwright was arrested and the tablet and other devices seized. He admitted to officers that he had breached the SHPO and said they would find illegal images of children in his possession.
His barrister, Kate Riekstina, said he had been recalled to prison on licence until June.
She asked for full credit for his early guilty pleas.
Wainwright recognised that he had a problem and was keen to seek help from the probation service or other authorities when he was released.
He suffered with social anxiety and often preferred to be on his own.
Judge Colin Burn said it was a serious breach of the SHPO. Wainwright had deliberately installed a device to mask his browsing memory and obstruct the police’s access to his internet use.
The possession of indecent images of children amounted to causing serious harm by providing a market for them to be physically and psychologically abused.
Wainwright was jailed for 16 months for the breach and eight months to run consecutively for possession of the images.
The SHPO is still in place.
At Leeds Crown Court
A VOLATILE and controlling man was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 16 years behind bars after murdering a woman in Bradford, trying to burn her body and then burying it in a shallow grave.
Dale Tarbox strangled Susan Howells, 51, at a house in Independent Street, Little Horton, before he and Keith Wadsworth transported her remains to a caravan park at Station Road, Doncaster.
Tarbox was convicted of Miss Howells’ murder after a trial. He chose not to attend the sentencing hearing in front of the Recorder of Leeds, Judge Guy Kearl QC.
Miss Howells was last seen at her home in Harrogate in February 2019 and reported missing in August last year.
Tarbox, 40, was living with 63-year-old Joan Arnold but was also involved with Miss Howells who spent time at his rented home in Independent Street.
He initially told the police he had not seen Miss Howells for six months but Miss Arnold told detectives she thought Miss Howells' body had been buried behind the caravan they were renting.
During the trial, the jury heard that Tarbox was aggressive, volatile and highly manipulative.
Wadsworth, 61, his neighbour on the caravan park at Station Road, Doncaster, pleaded guilty to assisting an offender by burying the body.
The Crown said that Miss Howells was particularly vulnerable and physically disabled. Her body was stored in a wheelie bin and Tarbox then tried to burn it in an incinerator bin before taking it to the caravan site.
The murder may have lacked sophistication but there was “a determined and concerted effort” to dispose of the body.
Tarbox had many previous convictions for violence, inflicting both pain and injury on others by punching and kicking and striking. This was a murder by strangulation with a much more sinister and final intention behind it.
Wadsworth pleaded guilty on the second day of the trial to assisting an offender by burying Miss Howells’ body.
In June, 2019, he helped Tarbox to collect the body from the rented property in Independent Street and to transport it to the caravan park for burial.
The body was in the bin outside the property, the court was told.
Wadsworth then dug the grave and put Miss Howells’ remains into it before collecting her benefit money from the Post Office for Tarbox.
Julie Chadburn, Miss Howells’ sister, said in her victim personal statement that Susie’s disappearance and murder had a devastating impact on her family.
Her elderly parents were trying to come to terms with the murder of their daughter.
Mrs Chadburn said Susie was treated so badly by people she trusted. She was frail and vulnerable and the circumstances surrounding her death never left her.
Her sister was “discarded like a piece of trash” by being dumped in a wheelie bin.
Tarbox had shown no remorse, drawing her sister’s benefit money after her murder.
In mitigation, it was conceded that the murder and concealment of Miss Howells’ body for almost eight months had a massive impact on her family.
Miss Howells wanted to be part of Tarbox’s life and he used her. He was a large and volatile man and she died very quickly in a spontaneous attack.
In mitigation for Wadsworth it was said that he had a good work record and his job was still open to him. He was doing what he was told by Tarbox.
Judge Kearl said Tarbox was no stranger to violence, including punching a former partner in the face.
He met Susan Howells in 2012 and they became friends. He knew she was physically frail and vulnerable and relied on others for help.
He controlled the relationship just as he controlled Miss Arnold and Wadsworth.
The trigger to kill Miss Howells was not clear. She may have believed they had a personal relationship, but he was using her.
On February 19, 2019, he murdered her by strangulation. It was opportunistic and he had a quick temper. She was defenceless and he showed her no mercy. Then he heartlessly and brutally tried to cover his tracks.
“You treated her body as though it was base and worthless,” Judge Kearl said.
He hid her in the cellar and then tried to burn her in an incinerator bin. When that didn’t work he put her body back in the bin in the cellar and left the house.
In June he hired a van and he and Wadsworth collected the body and it was buried behind Miss Arnold’s caravan.
Wadsworth was exploited by Tarbox who forced him to beg for money in the street. But he callously helped to dispose of the body by digging the shallow grave and covering it over with bin backs and soil.
He was playing his part in preventing the police from commencing investigations into the murder and the lawful apprehension of Tarbox.
Wadsworth was jailed for three years and seven months.
Judge Kearl said Tarbox will not be automatically released after 16 years. It is the minimum term he will spend in prison until The Parole Board deems it safe to release him.
He will remain on licence for the rest of his life.
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