Bradford Crown Court: Offenders locked up in November

Ahmed Thakar, of Cleckheaton Road, Bradford, groomed the 15-year-old girl with money and gifts of jewellery and persuaded her to exchange almost 14,000 phone messages with him.

He lied to the police and his family about what he had done, saying the allegations were the teenager’s sexual fantasies, prosecutor Gerald Hendron said.

Thakar pleaded guilty on the day of his trial to having sex with the girl and kissing her.

Mr Hendron said the admissions included multiple incidents of sexual intercourse over a short period of time almost four years ago.

He said Thakar’s victim was especially vulnerable because of her limited intellectual capability.

The married father of three children had kissed her and asked her for her number.

He had sex with her on several occasions, bought her make-up and jewellery and gave her money.

Thakar told the child if she saw anyone else, he would come to her house and kill her in front of her family, the court heard.

He said he wanted to marry her despite the fact that he had a wife and family.

Mr Hendron said that when the police seized Thakar’s phone they found £13,890 messages exchanged between him and the child.

He knew she was 15 when he told her not to wear underwear when they met up and promised her “good sex.”

In her victim personal statement, the girl said she now found it hard to trust people.

Abigail Langford, Thakar’s barrister, said his wife had written to the court asking for leniency for her husband who had “never hurt anyone.”

He was a hard working builder who had supported her during her serious health problems.

Miss Langford said a jail sentence would be very difficult for Thakar, who had no previous convictions, especially with the Covid-19 lockdown.

Seeing him go to prison would be a tragedy for his wife and family.

Judge Jonathan Rose spoke of the “utter wickedness” of Thakar’s behaviour. He had lied to his family and did not accept any responsibility for his actions.

“Children cannot protect themselves and cannot understand that sexual activity is not for them until they are much older and in a proper relationship,” Judge Rose stated.

Thakar, who was now a grandfather, had told a tissue of lies.

“You are devoid of any remorse whatsoever,” Judge Rose said.

He made a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and ordered Thakar to sign on the sex offender register, both without limit of time.

A 15th strike housebreaker labelled “an accomplished criminal” by the sentencing judge was locked up for three years and nine months.

Dale Poppleton had 19 previous convictions for 99 offences, many of them for matters of dishonesty.

Poppleton, 39, of no fixed address, was one of a team of burglars who raided a family home in Wibsey at 5am on June 28, making off with two cars from the driveway.

Prosecutor Syam Soni said Poppleton drove away in a Mercedes-Benz A35 with a tracker device fitted to it that gave live updates on its whereabouts.

The police traced it to Kingswood Street, Great Horton, Bradford, and Poppleton was seen fleeing the scene after leaving the vehicle in a mosque car park.

Officers gave chase but he got away from them.

He next came to the attention of the police after an Audi A6 worth £6,000 was stolen in a house burglary in Bingley on July 17.

Mr Soni said the Crown did not suggest that Poppleton was one of the culprits but he was seen approaching an address in Rochdale five days later.

When he spotted the police, he ran off dropping the keys to the stolen Audi which was found to be on false plates.

He remained at large until he was arrested from another address in Rochdale on September 10.

Mr Soni said that Poppleton climbed on to the roof of the property and threw tiles on to vehicles parked below. The Greater Manchester authorities had dealt with him for that offending, the court heard.

Poppleton was a 15th strike house burglar who was on prison licence at the time for an earlier offence of housebreaking.

His barrister, Jeremy Hill-Baker, said he was working for a company doing industrial concrete flooring at the time but needed extra money to pay for his mother to have private treatment for a serious illness.

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, her appointments were being postponed and although he tried to borrow the money, he was unsuccessful.

“He was tempted to fall into his old habits,” Mr Hill-Baker said.

Poppleton had been recalled to prison at a very tough time for inmates.

Judge Jonathan Rose told him: “You are an accomplished criminal with a particular propensity to commit house burglaries.”

Poppleton and his accomplices had targeted a home where four members of a family were living, causing distress and upset.

A PARANOID drug addict who set fire to his family home because he thought his partner was having an affair was jailed for three years and four months.

Patrick Rittich doused a pair of his boxer shorts in white spirit to start the blaze at the house in Birk Lea Street, West Bowling, Bradford.

Rittich, 38, pleaded guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered on the morning of March 15.

Prosecutor Alisha Kaye said that the rented property was a back to back terrace where Rittich lived with his partner and their young son.

She was woken at 4am on the day of the fire by Rittich running round the house.

He went out to buy cigarettes and when he returned, he demanded: “Where have you got him?” referring to his paranoid suspicion that she was hiding a man in the property.

The woman left the address taking her son and the family dog and Rittich locked the door behind them.

He then put the boxer shorts in the bath, set fire to them and left the house.

An eye-witness who saw that the property was alight called the fire service at 9.40am. Two fire appliances attended to extinguish the blaze.

Miss Kaye said that the bathroom was gutted and the estimated cost of the repairs was £15,000.

Rittich’s partner heard the sirens and went back to the house fearing that he was dead.

He rang her and handed himself in at Trafalgar House Police Station soon afterwards.

He was remanded in custody and sentenced on a video link to Leeds Prison.

Rittich told the police his partner was having an affair and they had been in his house.

He bought the white spirit when he went for cigarettes, soaked his boxer shorts in it and set the bathroom on fire.

He did not try to douse the flames or call the fire service.

Rittich said he was addicted to the Czech version of cocaine and did not intend to hurt anyone.

Miss Kaye said the bathroom was gutted. The wiring was destroyed and a hole was burnt through the ceiling.

Rittich’s partner needed Red Cross parcels for herself and her son, and their neighbour, who was at home with her children, was very frightened when she realised the house next door was on fire and feared they would be trapped inside.

Jessica Heggie, Rittich’s barrister, said in mitigation that he was very remorseful and now drug free.

Judge Richard Mansell QC told him: “You were paranoid and believed your partner was having an affair under your nose.”

Rittich had no previous convictions in the UK, where he had lived for ten years, or in his native Czech Republic.

Judge Mansell conceded that he had mental health problems but said they were brought out by long-standing drug abuse that began when he was 14.

A 29-year-old man was jailed for four years for a sustained attack on his former partner.

Jack Lister was labelled a dangerous offender by Recorder Ian Mullarkey.

Lister, who was living in the Keighley area, pleaded guilty to causing the woman grievous bodily harm on February 9 this year.

He was sentenced on a video link to Leeds Prison for what prosecutor Nick Adlington said was a “sustained assault.”

Lister’s barrister, Clare Walsh, said he was genuinely remorseful. His misuse of alcohol contributed to his offending behaviour.

Recorder Mullarkey said Lister’s probation officer found that he had “a sustained and entrenched propensity to commit violent acts.”

He sentenced him to an extended five-year prison term, with four years’ custody and a year on extended licence.

A 15-year restraining order prevents Lister from contacting his victim.

A BRADFORD teenager was locked up for seven and a half years for two violent street robberies and an aggravated burglary in which he beat the victim with a metal bar.

Hasad Shafiq was fuelled by drink and drugs during the crime spree when he was aged 17 and homeless, the court was told.

He had already racked up three robbery convictions, an attempted robbery and three offences of having a bladed article in a public place, dating from when he was15.

Shafiq, now 19 and remanded in HMP Doncaster, was on bail for possession of a kitchen knife in Bradford city centre on March 30 last year when he committed the first of the latest robberies.

Prosecutor Gerald Hendron said he approached a man on Listerhills Road, Bradford, shortly before 7pm on May 9, 2019.

Shafiq asked for some change and when the man told him he did not have any, he threatened: “I’m just going to stab you if you don’t give me your money.”

The frightened man went to the cash point at a nearby petrol station and withdrew £10 to hand to Shafiq.

Mr Hendon said that Shafiq remained at large to commit a second robbery and an aggravated burglary, both on June 15 last year.

He was with older and more sophisticated criminals when he joined in the robbery of a club goer on Tetley Street, Bradford, at around 5am.

Shafaq arrived when the man was already being set upon in an affray in the city centre.

The teenager and his hooded accomplices assaulted and robbed him of his £250 phone while a woman video streamed the attack to her laughing friend, Mr Hendron said.

The robbers went through the victim’s pockets while he was kicked on the ground and punched in the head. He suffered lumps to his head, two black eyes and a bleeding nose.

Shortly afterwards, Shafiq struck again, with a woman and a criminally sophisticated older man, the court heard.

The woman approached the male victim in the street in a set-up that saw him agreeing to pay her for sexual services.

“It was a pre-arranged ploy,” Mr Hendron said.

Once the woman was in the man’s flat, Shafiq and his accomplice turned up armed with a metal bar and a stick.

The woman stole the man’s wallet and the older man took him in a headlock while Shafiq struck him repeatedly with the metal bar.

The man’s cries for help alerted his housemates and they came to his rescue.

But the older robber then produced a pair of scissors that he swung as a weapon, cutting a man’s hand and tearing clothing.

The robbers then fled the scene with a £450 phone but were apprehended soon afterwards, Mr Hendron said.

The victim sustained a lump to his head and a swollen face.

Jayne Beckett, Shafiq’s barrister, said there was nothing she could say about the offences themselves.

The teenager was homeless, drinking alcohol and taking drugs, including Spice.

He had moved with his family to Bradford from the south of England and never been accepted. He was bullied at school and got in with older criminals.

“He was completely out of control,” Mrs Beckett said.

His mother and sister were now reconciled with him and would support him in the future.

Judge Richard Mansell QC sentenced Shafiq to a total of seven and a half years’ detention in a young offender institution. He will serve two thirds of the sentence before being released on licence.

A CONVICTED rapist who tricked a vulnerable teenager into believing he was a minicab driver so he could sexually attack her was given an extended ten-year prison sentence.

Sajaket Khan targeted the intoxicated 18-year-old in Bradford City centre at 1am on Christmas Day last year, luring her into his car and driving her to a secluded ginnel down a dead end.

He took her phone on the journey, saying he wanted to look up directions to her address, and then attempted to lure her down the alleyway.

When the woman’s instinct for danger kicked in and she demanded her phone back, Khan became aggressive, pushing her to the ground and driving off.

Khan, 32, of Stillington House, Allison Lane, Bolton Woods, Bradford, pleaded guilty to kidnap and breach of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order imposed when he was jailed in July, 2013, for two offences of rape.

He locked a lone woman in the back of his car in April, 2012, and orally raped her twice after she had been out with friends in Queensbury.

Khan was given an 11 year extended jail term for the rapes, six years in custody with a five-year licence extension.

He had previous convictions for sexual offences dating back to when he was 14, including indecent assault and indecent exposure.

Prosecutor Rebecca Young said the latest offences showed a pattern of targeting lone women who had been drinking and were extremely vulnerable.

Jayne Beckett, Khan’s barrister, said there were psychological and psychiatric reports and letters from Khan and his wife.

He had been remanded in custody for many months during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mrs Beckett said he now had a young child and had resolved to change his ways. He needed ongoing treatment for a number of mental health difficulties.

Judge Richard Mansell QC said Khan would have raped or carried out a serious sexual assault on the teenager if she had not challenged him.

He had lain in wait to target a lone drunken female stranger and taken her phone to stop her calling for help.

She had been left afraid to go out alone, anxious, depressed and awaiting counselling.

Khan had breached the SHPO because it prohibited him from inviting female strangers into his car.

None of the time he had spent on remand would count towards his sentence because he had been recalled to prison on licence, Judge Mansell said.

He sentenced Khan to a ten-year extended prison term, five years in custody and five years on extended licence.

Khan will spend at least two thirds and possibly the whole of the custodial term behind bars.

He must sign on the sex offender register for life.

A MAN was labelled dangerous and given an extended prison sentence for threatening to stab his ex-girlfriend and douse her in petrol.

Mark Elwood lost his temper after a four-day vodka, cocaine and crack cocaine binge that cost him £500.

He threatened to kill a man he believed the woman was in a relationship with and to smash her house windows.

Elwood then lunged at her with a knife after threatening to burn down her home and making as if to pour the contents of a can of petrol over her.

Judge Richard Mansell QC sentenced him to an extended term of imprisonment, with up to two and a half years in jail and three years on extended licence.

Elwood, 30, of North Cliffe Lane, Thornton, Bradford, pleaded guilty to making threats with an offensive weapon, making threats to kill, and threatening to smash the house windows, all on July 17.

Prosecutor Clare Walsh said he rang the woman after their short relationship had ended and threatened to stab the man in the neck.

Elwood then told her: “Your windows are going through. Get home now.”

He threatened the man again on a Snapchat video, Mrs Walsh said.

When the woman threatened to call the police, Elwood told her: “I’m not scared. You’ll all be dead before the police get here.”

He left the scene but returned soon afterwards with a petrol can, saying he was going to burn down the house, and making as if to pour the contents over her.

He then lunged at her with a flick knife but she knocked it out of his hand.

The police found him hiding in a nearby house. He threatened the officers, wanting to fight them, but dropped the knife.

The court heard he had 13 previous convictions for 23 offences, including making threats, criminal damage and possession of an offensive weapon.

In 2009, he was convicted of having an imitation semi-automatic pistol with intent to commit an offence.

He had also served a prison sentence of four and a half years for a street robbery with a knife.

Jayne Beckett said in mitigation that Elwood did not have any petrol with him. It was water in the can and he was carrying the knife because he was working at a nearby property.

“He accepts that he completely lost his temper and his way, and has let his family down,” Mrs Beckett said.

Elwood had ADHD and his mental health took a turn for the worse after his beloved aunt died.

He turned to drugs and alcohol but was now embarrassed and ashamed by his behaviour. He wanted to make a fresh start away from Bradford.

Judge Mansell said Elwood was “completely out of control” that day. He found him to be dangerous in the legal sense of the word.

He will have to apply to the Parole Board to be released before the end of the custodial sentence.

Judge Mansell made a restraining order to protect the woman from Elwood in the future.

A LONG term drug user and prolific criminal who turned to dealing to pay his debts was jailed for more than four years.

Andrew Dewhirst, of Vine Place, Eccleshill, pleaded guilty to dealing heroin, crack cocaine and cocaine.

Dewhirst, who had already served 12 years for drug dealing offences in the past, admitted the offending after being caught by police.

The 58-year-old was spotted by the police when they saw someone who looked like a Class A drug user approaching his car on April 28.

Searching the vehicle, officers found cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin with a total value of £349.

They seized a phone which “clearly displayed he was involved in supplying drugs over a number of months”.

Dewhirst admitted dealing drugs and said he had been a long-term drug user and had fallen into debt. He was dealing to pay off the debt and to feed his own habit.

He was caught by police again dealing drugs in Idle on October 27 while on bail for driving while disqualified.

Following a tip-off police found him in possession of cocaine and heroin as well as almost £100 in cash. The drugs found were worth about £300.

Dewhirst had an extensive criminal record, with 48 convictions for 197 offences, including previous drugs offences and more than 40 thefts, as well as driving while disqualified offences.

He had previously served three jail terms totally 12 years for drug dealing - one of six years and two three-year stretches.

In mitigation, Richard Davies said he had made “full and frank admissions”.

Mr Davies said: “The defendant is a long-term drug user with significant problems stemming from his drug use.

“He is not in the best of health; he has COPD, high blood pressure and is also developing rheumatoid arthritis.”

Jailing Dewhirst for four and a half years, Judge Jonathan Gibson said: “You were seen in a car both times looking to sell drugs.

“Both times you were found in possession of drugs and money, which was the proceeds of drug dealing.

“You were dealing on behalf of an organisation to feed your own habit and your record supports the fact you are a long-term user. You also have a number of relevant previous convictions.”

For the April offences he was jailed for 27 months, and was also jailed for 27 months for the offending in October. The sentences will be served consecutively.

A Proceeds of Crime Act application was also brought by the prosecution and adjourned to a later date.

A REPEAT sex offender was jailed for 18 months after being caught with extreme animal pictures and a string of indecent images of young children.

Stephen Lee, 47, had been imprisoned in 2015 and received a community order two years earlier, all for similar offences.

Lee had also breached a sexual harm prevention order made five years ago, designed to stop any similar offending in the future.

Lee, of Bradford Road, Cleckheaton, appeared by video link, having already been recalled to prison to serve the remainder of a three year sentence he received in January 2019.

The court heard how the offences dated back to 2018, with 73 still and moving extreme pornographic images involving a person and a horse found on his laptop in June.

In addition in November police found 80 indecent images of children at the most serious level, category A, 72 category B images of children, and 81 still and moving images of category C.

Officers also discovered two extreme pornographic images of a person performing a sex act on a live or dead animal.

Officers contacted Lee as part of a regular review of his sexual harm prevention order, in June 2018.

They checked his laptop and found the first set of images and video clips - he claimed he had been just trying to download music when he saw the extreme images advertised.

Then in November he was arrested for something unrelated at his wife's home in Bradford. The court heard that Lee threw his mobile phone in a bin at the house, and his wife later found it and contacted the police.

Officers uncovered a number of indecent images on it.

Abigail Langford, for Lee, said that these latest offences actually pre-dated the 2019 jail sentence he received.

She added that there had been "a considerable period of delay" in bringing this matter to the Crown Court.

In the meantime he had sought assistance from the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, a charity which works to prevent child sexual abuse happening. And he had asked his GP to prescribe him medication that had the "side effect of being beneficial given the nature of his offending".

In jailing Lee for 18 months in total, Judge Jonathan Gibson said that he appeared to have made some efforts to address the "serious problem" that he had.

He ordered that the ten year sexual harm prevention order be extended, and that the devices he had used be forfeited and destroyed.

A 48-YEAR-OLD man knifed his former manager after being sacked from the job he had worked in for 30 years.

Ian Noble, of Barber Street, Brighouse, carried out the violent attack on his superior Stuart Syme after losing his position at a wire factory.

The job was a "large part" of Noble's life and that he believed Mr Syme was instrumental in his dismissal for gross misconduct.

He lost the job at Booth Wire Products in January but returned to its premises in Brighouse on February 4. Noble threw a brick through a window which hit Mr Syme on the arm.

A few hours later he turned up again and, when Mr Syme opened the door to him, he asked about getting a reference.

Prosecutor Ian Brook said the complainant asked Noble about the brick-throwing incident but the defendant then lunged towards him.

He added: “The complainant didn’t see he had a knife initially but he instinctively grabbed at it and pulled it away. The defendant turned and walked away through the car park and the knife he had with him was on the floor. The complainant picked it up and then realised the defendant had stabbed him in his stomach.”

Colleagues called 999 and began administering first aid and Mr Syme had the three-centimetre deep puncture wound cleaned and sutured in hospital.

Mr Brook said Noble, who had returned to his home in Brighouse, used a kitchen paring knife in the attack.

When police turned up to arrest him he said: ”I know why you’re here.”

Noble said it had been “a moment of madness” at a time when he was not sleeping well and suffering from depression.

He had been sacked for gross misconduct and his mental health had been affected following his dismissal.

Mr Brook said: “He blamed the complainant for the entire episode.”

Barrister Abdul Shakoor, for Noble, said his mental health had improved significantly since the offence.

He added: “He had been a loyal employee of Booth Wire Products for three decades.”

Noble perceived that he was being isolated at work and ultimately he was dismissed.

He added: “He feels that his medication for a hernia had an impact on his mental health at the time.

“He indicated in his police interview that he regrets his actions and wishes to apologise to the complainant and all those who were affected by what he did.

“He totally wishes he didn’t do what he did on that morning of madness.”

Noble admitted charges of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm, possession of an offensive weapon, assault and criminal damage.

Judge Jonathan Gibson sentenced him to a total of 40 months in prison.

The judge accepted it had been a single blow with the knife and there was some evidence that Noble was adversely affected by his mental health condition at the time.

He said: “You demonstrated remorse on the day and have done since. This was therefore an isolated incident."

A MAN was jailed for three years and four months for a £12,200 cash in transit robbery outside a Tesco Express in Bradford.

Mohammed Farid threw gravel in the face of a G4S security guard while his accomplice was wielding a hammer.

Prosecutor Katherine Robinson said the guard went to the ground outside the store on Bolton Road just after 1pm on July 27.

CCTV footage showed Farid’s hammer wielding accomplice running at him and using the weapon to strike the G4S van.

Farid, 23, of Newport Place, Manningham, Bradford, then threw gravel or wood chippings in the guard’s face before the robbers sped off in a red vehicle with the cash cassette.

The guard took the vehicle’s number but it was registered under a false name and address, Miss Robinson said.

The cash cassette was fitted with a tracking device and the police found the getaway vehicle burned out. The cassette was traced to a house in the area and recovered unopened along with a jacket with Farid’s DNA on it.

He made no comment when questioned by the police and went on to plead guilty to the robbery. He was remanded in custody and sentenced on a video link to Leeds Prison.

He had previous convictions for assaulting police officers, battery and possession of offensive weapons.

Farid’s barrister, Andrew Dallas, said he was very remorseful and distressed that a letter he had written to the court had not been delivered.

Mr Dallas said the security guard was uninjured and so could not have been struck by the hammer. His van was scraped by the weapon during the robbery.

Neither Farid nor his accomplice knew what to do with the sophisticated cash cassette they had seized.

Mr Dallas said Farid was under some pressure to join in the robbery because he had run up a drug debt.

“He feels he has been something of a fall guy,” he said.

Although he had been before the courts as a teenager, Farid had kept out of trouble for five years.

He had done agency work at a supermarket in an attempt to lead an honest and decent life.

His weakness for drugs had led to his plans for the future being wrecked.

He had been ill on remand in prison and the victim of an assault, Mr Dallas said.

Judge Colin Burn said the robbery had elements of planning and sophistication.

Farid’s accomplice was armed with a hammer and the getaway vehicle was registered under false details and then burnt out.

Judge Burn said he was taking into account the Covid-19 lockdown regime in prison when fixing the length of the sentence.

A MAN was jailed for two years and three months for his involvement in the organised theft of high value vehicles and heavy machinery worth more than £100,000.

Jake Mawson, 21, committed a string of offences that Judge Colin Burn said “painted a picture” of his role in the sophisticated stealing and delivery of vans and commercial plant.

Prosecutor Jessica Heggie said the first offence was handling stolen goods committed on October 26, 2018.

Mawson, of Swarcliffe Drive, Swarcliffe, Leeds, was stopped by the police at the wheel of a stolen Mercedes Sprinter van on false plates. The vehicle, worth up to £8,000, had been taken from an address in Leeds the previous month.

Weeks later, on November 22, he sped off from the police in Bradford at 3am in another stolen Mercedes van on false plates.

Mawson led the officers on a pursuit of up to four miles at speeds that reached 95mph, Miss Heggie said.

He clipped the kerb on Tyersal Lane, went straight through a Give Way junction and reached speeds of 75mph on Wakefield Road. He did 84mph on Tong Street and then accelerated to 95mph in a 40 zone.

A stinger device was deployed but Mawson went on to drive the wrong way down the bypass before crashing through a fence into a field.

The police helicopter and a police dog tracked him after he fled on foot.

He was found hiding in woodland, the court was told.

While on bail for dangerous driving, Mawson and a gang of accomplices carried out a £97,000 overnight theft at Wilby Tree Surgeons in Ecton, Northampton, on May 23 this year.

He was caught on CCTV driving a Land Rover towing a stolen trailer with a digger on it, also raided from the business’s compound.

The thieves damaged a fencing panel to get into the premises and took almost £100,000 worth of heavy machinery, including a grinder and a wood chipper.

Police chased Mawson, who swerved in front of their vehicles while towing the digger. He went the wrong way round a roundabout, almost tipping the trailer over.

Soon afterwards, he crashed and ran off but he was chased and apprehended.

He pleaded guilty to dishonestly handling the stolen Sprinter van, dangerous driving and theft.

In mitigation, it was said that he was a “foot soldier” in the criminal enterprise rather than heading up the operation. He was immature and had fallen in with older and more sophisticated criminals.

He had been remanded in custody for a month and had found it a harrowing experience.

Mawson was jailed for a total of 27 months and banned from driving for 25 months.

A 38-year-old man was jailed for two and a half years after attacking a couple with a brick and a wooden pole and throwing a bottle through their house window.

Sean Deeney was sentenced on a video link to Leeds Prison after being remanded in custody for 15 months following his arrest and charge.

He was convicted by a jury after a trial in February of two offences of causing grievous bodily harm and an offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

He pleaded guilty ahead of the trial to criminal damage at the address in Wyke, Bradford, on July 16 last year by throwing a bottle through a window.

Deeney, now of no fixed address, was living in the same street as his victims at the time the violence erupted, the court was told.

He had eight previous convictions for offences against the person but there was a big gap in his offending after 2011, prosecutor Brian Russell said.

Mr Russell said Deeney attacked a man with a brick when he went round to the family’s home. He then injured a woman with a wooden pole. Their daughter was also attacked.

The man suffered a broken jaw and one of the female victims sustained a broken nose.

Abigail Langford said in mitigation that Deeney had been held in custody since August, 2019. Conditions behind bars had been tough and restrictive during the months of the Covid-19 pandemic with no social visits allowed.

There had been a lengthy gap between his 2011 conviction and the offences in July last year.

Deeney had the support of his family and intended to move back to Manchester to make a fresh start when he was released from prison.

He had suffered a trauma in his personal life at the time he committed the offences.

The trial judge, Recorder Jeremy Hill-Baker, said the offences took place after Deeney lost his temper following a dispute with the family, who were at that time living on the same street as him.

He drove off but returned after an hour with weapons to cause injury.

Recorder Hill-Baker said there had been a significant delay while Deeney was held in prison awaiting sentence.

He also had to take into account legal guidance on jailing defendants during the Covid-19 pandemic when they were confined to the cells for almost all of the day.

A FAILED professional golfer was jailed for 19 months after sexually assaulting a young woman and racially abusing an arresting police officer in a “bizarre” two-hour incident in Keighley town centre.

Alistair Houldsworth, who has a string of previous convictions, was drunk and high on cocaine when he put his hand up the woman’s skirt leaving her feeling violated and disgusted.

Houldsworth, 33, of Pemberton Drive, Shearbridge, Bradford, pleaded guilty to sexual assault, two offences of common assault, assault on a police officer as an emergency worker, and racially aggravated harassment, all on June 23.

He called his victim sexy while he was under the influence of alcohol and drugs, prosecutor Camille Morland said.

She was disturbed and alarmed when he followed her, continuing to make inappropriate comments.

He then stuck his hand right up her skirt and slapped her hard on the bottom.

Houldsworth then committed offences of common assault on a girl aged 16 and a male student. He tried to kiss the girl and grabbed at the male victim’s bottom while stumbling about and slurring his words.

He then hurled racist abuse at random people in the street and at an arresting police officer, Miss Morland said.

He kicked a police officer in the thigh and shouted a stream of insults at his colleagues, calling them nonces and Jimmy Savile’s. He then threatened to spit in the mouth of one officer.

Houldsworth had previous convictions for sending an offensive communication, public order offences, battery, common assault, threatening behaviour and assault on an emergency worker.

His barrister, Abigail Langford, said he could have been a professional golfer and that career failure had caused his mental health problems. He became depressed and began drinking heavily.

Miss Langford said Houldsworth was highly intelligent and articulate and understood that his behaviour that day was totally unacceptable.

He had been very ill while on remand in prison and realised that his heavy drinking had to stop.

Miss Langford urged the court to suspend the prison sentence or to keep it short enough to allow his release very soon.

Judge Andrew Hatton said Houldsworth’s behaviour that day was “bizarre.”

He was heavily intoxicated with drugs and alcohol during the “peculiar and dreadful” incident that afternoon.

Houldsworth had been given a good many chances by the courts over the years but now the probation service no longer felt they could work with him.

Judge Hatton made a Sexual Harm Prevention Order was for five years.