Defendants who lost their liberty
THE courts were very active in August after criminals from our area made appearances in connection with a host of crimes.
Some were jailed, with one defendant set to face six years behind bars.
Appearing at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court, Jeffrey Taylor, 32, of Salisbury Drive, Midway, pleaded guilty to failing to provide a specimen of breath for analysis having been suspected of drink driving on July 2 in Waterside Road, Stapenhill.
He also admitted driving without insurance and while banned, which he had previously denied. Taylor also admitted failing to attend court on August 2. He was jailed for 24 weeks with magistrates saying his previous driving record was “dreadful”.
Taylor was also ordered to pay a £128 victim surcharge and was banned from driving for five years.
Samantha Grace was jailed for 30 months for two counts of fraud by abuse of position between February 2016 and April 2018 after the money was taken from her vulnerable grandmother.
Stafford Crown Court heard she stole around £48,000 while she had the power of attorney. Around £5,000 was used on beauty products and the rest was transferred via bank transfers. It worked out at around £31,500 that was taken after expenses and money she was owed was deducted.
Character witnesses had described her as “polite, loyal, hard-working and kind”. She was said to be considered reliable.
Grace had given up her job to care for her grandmother but “stress and strain” of what was expected from her was evident in some of the Whatsapp messages she sent, the court was told.
Robert Park hit a friend of 25 years with a broom handle before slashing him with a knife, narrowly missing his neck, a court heard.
The 42-year-old listened to the court hearing via a link from HMP Dovegate. Stafford Crown Court was told that after he was hauled into a police car following the attack at the home they shared in Rugeley, he then clambered out of the window and ran at his bleeding friend.
Park admitted wounding with intent on the first day of his planned trial. The incident happened on August 24 last year, when Park and his friend had an argument about withdrawing money from a back account. He was jailed for five years and four months.
Tom Ssematiko, of Stretton, admitted four counts of fraud by false representation during May 2021, while he was employed as a care worker for the victim in Wirksworth, Derbyshire.
The court heard how he opened his victim’s bank statements and set up online banking on her account without permission, before making three transactions to transfer money to his own account, totalling more than £9,000.
The 59-year-old, of Moor Furlong, then tried a fourth time to transfer more than £10,000 from her account but it was declined, and a block was set up by the victim’s bank.
After a genuine online purchase was stopped, another carer helped the victim by taking her to her bank where they realised what had happened.
The care agency that Ssematiko worked for helped with police enquiries, and he was arrested in Wales on May 25. He was questioned and subsequently charged. Ssematiko appeared at Derby Crown Court and he was sentenced to a total of 18 months imprisonment.
Scott Rafferty, 28, was jailed for six years after being convicted at Stafford Crown Court of possession with intent to supply heroin and crack cocaine after two separate incidents earlier this year.
He was initially arrested on March 11 after officers searched his home in Melbourne Avenue, Winshill.
A large amount of crack cocaine was seized, plus scales, phones and cash. A knuckleduster and knives were also recovered, said a police spokesman.
Rafferty was arrested again after officers carried out a “stop and search” of a 31-year-old man in Hawfield Road, Winshill, on July 8.
He was detained inside a nearby property after officers carried out a search where phones, drugs, including heroin and crack, scales, cash, blades and other drugs-related paraphernalia were found and seized by police.
A prison officer who fell in love with a violent robber helped him escape jail, a court heard.
Michael Seddon left a decoy in his cell to trick guards, with officer Erica Whittingham waiting in her car outside HMP Sudbury. She drove the convict away from the open prison, helping him to go on the run.
The pair stayed in touch for six months, meeting in hotel rooms around the country.
Derby Crown Court heard Whittingham had fallen for Seddon, who had been part of a gang that tied up and battered an elderly farmer. Whittingham, 33, is now in prison as an inmate rather than an officer, having been jailed for three years.
Two brothers were stabbed by their brother-in-law in a South Derbyshire street in a family dispute.
Richard Atkins carried out the attack in the street and even rammed the vehicle his two victims were in. One of their sons, aged 12, witnessed the violence, along with passers-by.
The assault started after Atkins, 54, rammed the car from behind, then mounted the pavement to block it.
The defendant got out and stabbed both men as they tried to defend themselves, Derby Crown Court heard.
Atkins then told one of them, “I told you, you were going to have it” before going on to say he “didn’t care” if he ended up in prison.
Jailing him for 22 months, Judge Jonathan Bennett said: “It was a horrific incident that could have led to more serious injuries.
“The red mist descended.” Shocking CCTV footage showed the moment an innocent bystander was hit with one ferocious punch during a violent brawl which caused his death.
The footage released by police was viewed in court when Davyd Lincan was jailed for manslaughter. His single punch floored Stan Bacioiu, 44, during a brawl outside a home in Uxbridge Street, Burton. Mr Bacioiu died in hospital nine days later.
After landing the fateful haymaker punch, which sees the victim drop to the floor immediately, Lincan calmly walked away.
He was sentenced to three years and nine months jail after admitting the killing.
The footage showed Mr Bacioiu waiting on the pavement outside the address with a friend. He had been asked by another friend to transport his belongings from the address in a van. Inside the house, a brawl had broken out between a group of men, which spilled out on to the street.