Jailed This Week

A 21-year-old man was jailed for life and will serve a minimum of 22 years behind bars after he fatally stabbed Casey Badhams during a street confrontation.

Jake Wilkinson’s trial and sentence at Bradford Crown Court last month could not be re-ported due to a judge’s order but the restriction was lifted this week after the prosecu-tion offered no evidence on other outstanding allegations against him.

Wilkinson, of Furness Drive, Ovenden, Halifax, murdered Mr Badhams, also 21, during an incident in broad daylight near to a children’s play area on Myrtle Avenue, Ovenden, last August.

At the start of the murder trial, prosecutor Alistair MacDonald QC described how Wilkinson, who had been drinking alcohol and using cocaine that night, had armed himself with a large knife from his partner’s home following a row between himself and Mr Badhams.

The jury were shown CCTV footage of Wilkinson getting out of his partner’s car on Myrtle Avenue just before 9am on August 7 and heading towards Mr Badhams who was with a friend.

During the confrontation, Wilkinson swung the knife at Mr Badhams and stabbed him in the side penetrating his heart.

As Wilkinson ran off, Mr Badhams collapsed to the ground and despite the efforts of passers-by and the emergency services he died from his injury.

The jury heard how the two men had been drinking together with others after a “chance meeting” in the early hours but an argument started after they exchanged insults.

During his evidence to the jury Wilkinson claimed that Mr Badhams threatened to “shank” him and come to his house and kill him.

He described feeling scared and confused and said he had got the knife to confront Mr Badhams about what he had said.

Wilkinson claimed he panicked and was trying to keep Mr Badhams away with the knife.

But after the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict on the murder charge Judge Jona-than Rose said the attack had been a pre-planned act of revenge.

"You instigated and initiated the violence," he told Wilkinson. "You sought out that vio-lence and you were the cause of it."

Judge Rose said there had been a "petty and pointless" argument following an exchange of insults but Mr Badhams had walked away and considered it was at an end.

Wilkinson's attempt during the trial to paint Casey Badhams as a man of violence had been rejected by the jury.

In a moving victim impact statement Mr Badhams' mother Samina Kershaw described how her son had his whole life in front of him and had wanted to see the world and go to work in Thailand.

She said every day was a battle to get up and get dressed and the pain was too much to bear some days.

Her son had a cheeky smile she said, adding: "I miss his smile so much.”

"Casey never stood a chance, as we now know, it was a single blow that pierced his heart."

She said her heart was not just broken it had ripped out and a piece was missing.

"I hope the sentence deters others from carrying a knife and stops other families going through what we went through," she added.

Mark Rhind QC, for Wilkinson, conceded that his behaviour had been "ridiculous over-reaction and an escalation of the events earlier that morning.”

Jailing father-of-three Wilkinson for life, Judge Rose said Mr Badhams had offered no violence towards the defendant and after the stabbing he had suffered devastating injuries and blood loss.

“I’m satisfied you knew full well what you had done and you turned and ran away,” he told Wilkinson.

“I regret to say I do not accept you have displayed any genuine remorse for the death of Casey Badhams.

“No sentence this court can impose will reduce or ease the pain of Casey Badhams’ family after the loss of such a loved young man.”

 

A MAN was jailed for two years and three months after threatening to burn down his ex-wife’s home while committing six breaches of the restraining order made to protect her.

Imran Khan hit a window with a stone and took the door key while repeatedly turning up at the Bradford address, leaving the woman in such fear that she needed a panic alarm.

Khan, 42, of Tong Street, Bradford, was convicted by Bradford and Keighley magistrates of two breaches of the order and pleaded guilty to a further four on the day of his trial.

Locking him up at Bradford Crown Court, Recorder Jason Pitter QC said they were “very serious and significant breaches” because of the sheer number of them and the impact they had on the victim.

Prosecutor Tayo Dasaolu said Khan had been married to the woman for almost 20 years when the relationship broke down.

He moved out but kept going back to the address, demanding his belongings and electrical items, threatening to break the windows and burn down the house.

He struck a window with a stone, hung around the property in his car, made anonymous phone calls and stole the door key.

Miss Dasaolu said the woman was so frightened that she asked the police to install a panic alarm at the address.

She had not made a victim personal statement but it was clear from her statements to the police that she was afraid of Khan.

Khan’s barrister, Preet-Paul Tutt, said all the incidents were of relatively short duration.

He had no other convictions and had been a hardworking man. Khan had left school at 16 and held down jobs as a warehouse operative, a delivery driver, a warehouse super-visor and a cleaner with a coach company.

Mr Tutt said he was a law-abiding citizen until his problems began when he was made redundant and became “bitter, frustrated and desperate.”

He was sentenced on a video link to HMP Leeds where he had been held in custody on remand since May last year. The court heard that was the equivalent of serving a 20-month prison sentence.

His time behind bars was made more onerous because it was during the coronavirus pandemic when a lockdown regime was in place.

Mr Tutt said Khan was very remorseful and realised the distress he had caused his victim.

Recorder Pitter said the restraining order was still in force.

 

A SEX chat pervert who talked about doing ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ with an under-age girl was jailed for a total of 23 months.

Mohammed Eithan Khan said he would take the teenager’s virginity during online chats and asked her to send him photos of herself in her school uniform or naked.

Khan, 23, of Great Horton Road, Bradford, admitted a charge of engaging in sexual communication with a child and he also pleaded guilty to separate charges of possessing indecent images of children.

Bradford Crown Court heard that the offending took place at a time when Khan had is-sues with loneliness and was ‘isolated from reality.’ The court heard that he had kept out of trouble since.

But Recorder Jason Pitter QC said that only an immediate custodial sentence was appropriate.

Khan had initiated the contact with the under-age girl and had communicated with her over a period of about three months.

“You must have been aware how young she was,” he said.

“You deliberately sexualised even simple conversations making her feel uncomfortable, telling her that you would take her virginity.

“The conversations became increasingly sexualised and you made reference to the film Fifty Shades of Grey.”

After his arrest Khan denied having any intention of carrying out the acts referred to in the messages sent to his victim.

The court heard that the indecent images downloaded by him involved female children aged between five and 14.

“What is of particular concern to me is that there appears to be a lack of true remorse for your actions and an inability to engage with the reasons behind your offending,” the recorder said.

Khan was jailed for 14 months for sexual communication with a child and an additional nine months, to run consecutively, for the possession of indecent images.

He will have to register as a sex offender with the police for the next ten years and comply with a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.

 

A JEALOUS and controlling man who threatened to kill his ex-partner in breach of a court order for menacing her with a machete was jailed for three years.

Johnathan Williams said he’d stab the woman and whoever she was with after ringing her in defiance of a restraining order, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Williams, on remand in Leeds Prison, had carried out “a campaign of violence” against her, prosecutor Mark Stephenson said.

The court heard she was having her nails done at a friend’s house on June 6 last year when he demanded to know where she was.

He called her names on the phone when she said she was going out later, and threatened to get a knife and kill her and whoever she was with.

She believed that he would carry out the threat, Mr Stephenson said.

Williams, 44, of Huddersfield Road, Halifax, pleaded guilty to making a threat to kill and breach of a restraining order.

The court heard that the offences were committed in breach of a 16-month suspended sentence order for an affray in which he threatened his victim with a machete.

Williams had 26 convictions for 81 offences on his record, including numerous breaches of court orders.

Vincent Blake-Barnard said in mitigation that Williams never intended to harm the woman. He knew the relationship was over and he had been held in custody since last June.

Recorder Jason Pitter QC labelled him jealous and controlling.

He was jailed for 30 months for making a threat to kill and breach of the restraining or-der with six months of the suspended sentence order activated to run consecutively.

 

A VIOLENT teenage mugger who attacked and robbed a youth and a pensioner in Keighley town centre on Boxing Day was locked up for three years.

Nikolas Gasper, 19, who was on licence at the time for violent disorder, was told by the judge that his victims, aged 17 and nearly 70, were very frightened and had been left with long-lasting consequences.

A 17-year-old accomplice, who cannot be named because of his age, was sentenced to an 18-month Youth Rehabilitation Order.

Bradford Crown Court heard that Gasper, of New Town Court, Keighley, and the youth from Bradford, were part of a gang that set upon and robbed the teenage boy and a man aged 69 on the afternoon of December 26.

Prosecutor Camille Morland said the first robbery took place at 5.15pm when the youth was followed by the group from the Airedale Shopping Centre along North Street.

The gang was loud and wearing hoodies and masks, the court heard.

The victim was told to turn out his pockets and threats were made to stab him, although no weapon was produced, Miss Morland said.

The youth’s wallet was snatched, he was pushed into a wall and punched in the face several times. He ran off towards the bus station, dropping his £200 phone which was also stolen by his pursuers.

He hid in a ginnel but was tracked down and chased into Ladbrokes betting shop where he was punched in the stomach and robbed of his backpack.

CCTV from the town centre showed the gang with his property and apparently celebrating, Miss Morland said.

The teenager was left shocked and scared. He was stressed and anxious and afraid to go out, the court was told.

The gang struck again at 7pm the same day, attacking the pensioner on Highfield Lane.

He was chased, pushed to the ground and kicked, suffering cuts and bruising to his nose and right elbow.

His wallet was snatched containing cash, bank cards, his bus pass and driving licence.

In his victim personal statement, he spoke of now taking a taxi when he went out and having difficulty sleeping.

The gang used one of the stolen bank cards to buy £35 of food from a nearby shop.

The two teenagers were arrested two days later and made no comment when ques-tioned by the police. They went on to plead guilty to both robberies.

The court heard that both had committed a previous offence of attempted robbery and Gasper was on licence for violent disorder.

Abigail Langford, for Gasper, said he was still a very young man.

He was currently in custody during the Covid regime and was now very insightful about what he had done.

For the 17-year-old, it was said that supported accommodation was available for him if he retained his liberty.

Although they were very serious offences, he was an immature youth who was ashamed of his behaviour.

Recorder Ashley Serr sentenced Gasper to three years’ detention in a young offender institution.

The 17-year-old was sentenced to an 18-month Youth Rehabilitation Order with inten-sive supervision and surveillance and a nine-month curfew order.

 

A MAN caught tending a £190,000 cannabis factory at a former Bradford mill frac-tured a limb jumping from the roof when the police arrived with a search warrant.

Illegal immigrant, Petref Leka, was detained while a second man spotted at TNS Fabrics, on Hammerton Street in the Leeds Road area of Bradford, managed to flee and is still at large.

Leka, 23, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the production of cannabis and was jailed for 18 months.

Prosecutor Camille Morland said that the police arrived at the mill at 9.30am on Febru-ary 16 and found a cannabis factory on four floors.

There were 403 small plants and a further room in the basement was being prepared to grow more of the drugs.

Miss Morland told Bradford Crown Court that the electricity supply had been bypassed and there were lamps, transformers and fans.

The potential street value of the crop was £189,985 and it had a wholesale value of between £66,495 and £133,000.

Leka, an Albanian national, said he had come to the UK illegally eight months previously and then made no further comment when questioned by the police.

In mitigation, Simon Hustler said that he was living in “unsavoury” conditions while minding the factory. He had been there a very short time and had no family in the United Kingdom.

He came to this country to build a better life for himself and worked in the construction industry to pay off the cost of being smuggled here in the back of a lorry.

Leka had no previous convictions and was manipulated into looking after the cannabis plants. He was sorry and regretful about his role at the factory and had accepted his guilt at the earliest opportunity.

Recorder Andrew Haslam QC said Leka involved himself in the production of controlled drugs to pay off the debt he owed to his traffickers.

He was found in an old mill that had been converted into a very sophisticated cannabis factory. It was over four floors, with another in the pipeline.

There were 62 transformers, 62 lamps and nine fans and the electricity supply had been bypassed.

Leka was one of two people living there with fully stocked fridge freezers, an oven and blow-up beds.

The set-up would enable the sale of cannabis on a commercial scale, Recorder Haslam said, with the potential for it to produce the drug on an industrial scale.