Teenager locked up over cab driver knife attacks

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September 14, 2018
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A TEENAGER who pulled a knife on two cab drivers in two days will be detained in a young offenders’ institution for 12 months.

Alex Grogan brandished a knife at the cabbies after they asked him to pay his fare, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

The 19-year-old, of South Parade, Cleckheaton, swung the knife at one of the drivers, who then suffered a cut to his hand when he tried to defend himself.

The incidents happened on April 22 and 23 this year, when Grogan had been drinking.

In the first, Grogan was taken from his home to another address in Cleckheaton. When they arrived, Grogan claimed he needed to get some money but, when asked by the driver to leave something as insurance, he produced a six-inch knife, the court was told.

Prosecutor Duncan Ritchie added: “He swore at the driver then walked away.”

The following day, Grogan booked a cab with a different company to take him from Dewsbury to Cleckheaton. When he was asked for the fare, Grogan pulled out a knife and swung it towards the driver, who fought back.

After a struggle, Grogan got out of the car but dropped his mobile phone and another knife, which the cabbie drove off with. Grogan was arrested the next day.

Mr Ritchie said: “The driver was struggling to sleep after the incident. He feared the defendant might attack him again in the future.”

At an earlier hearing, Grogan pleaded guilty to six offences — two of having a bladed article in a public place, two of making off without paying, threatening a driver and causing actual bodily harm.

Grogan must also pay a £900 criminal court charge and a £100 victim surcharge.

Telegraph & Argus

This week’s reports from the courts

By
September 14, 2018
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Alex Grogan, 20, c/o Moorcroft Road, Dewsbury. Took a vehicle without the owner’s consent, drove it without insurance or a licence, and failed to provide a specimen of breath for analysis in Dewsbury on August 29. Curfew with electronic monitoring imposed for 10 weeks, starting September 29, and ordered to take part in an accredited programme for 33 days. Banned from driving for two years. Ordered to pay £130 compensation, an £85 surcharge and £85 costs.

Huddersfield Examiner

Alex Grogan said he was too drunk to remember trying to steal van

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September 14, 2018
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He damaged the vehicle as he attempted to take it from the owner’s Dewsbury home

A man caught trying to steal a van was so drunk he had no recollection of what happened.

Alex Grogan pleaded guilty to offences of taking a vehicle without consent, failing to provide a specimen of breath, using a vehicle without insurance and driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence when he appeared at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court.

The court heard that the victim had parked his Mercedes Sprinter van outside his home on Mitre Street in Dewsbury.

His wife then witnessed it being broken into and called police.

Grogan, of Moorcroft Road, Dewsbury, had broken the glass in the driver’s side window before climbing into the seat.

He had no keys for the vehicle but pulled the handbrake off and it rolled a short distance down the street into the kerb edge.

Police arrived, pulled the 20-year-old from the van and arrested him.

Some damage had been caused to the vehicle as he attempted to start it, with the broken glass and wiring hanging down below the steering wheel.

Grogan then refused to give a breath sample at the police station.

Zahid Majeed, mitigating, said that his client had no recollection of the incident due to drinking.

District Judge Michael Fanning sentenced Grogan to a Dewsbury with 33 days of rehabilitative activities and a 10-week curfew.

He was banned from driving for two years and ordered to pay £130 compensation, £85 costs and £85 victim surcharge.

Huddersfield Examiner

From 2016

Alleged White Supremacist Pleads to Fourth Degree Assault

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September 12, 2018
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Jacob Laskey was on federal probation from a 2002 hate crime conviction

Jacob Albert Laskey, known for his ties to white supremacy, pled guilty to assault in the fourth degree and unlawful use of a weapon on Sept. 10.

According to court records, Circuit Court Judge Valeri Love sentenced Laskey to six months in the Lane County Jail, 30 months at the Department of Corrections and another 24 months of post-prison supervision.

Laskey was arrested on Jan. 19 of this year for a weapon-involved assault. Laskey had been working at his family’s Creswell business Wolfclan Armory, which moved to Cottage Grove, leading to several protests in that city of its alleged racist associations.

According to prior reporting by EW, sources had alleged that Laskey, 38, stabbed a person, later revealed to be a Eugene man named Devin Reid Wolfe, during a party that night in January.

At that time, Laskey was on federal probation from a prior hate crime conviction in 2002 which had earned him 11 years in prison for throwing swastika-etched rocks through the windows of the Temple Beth Israel synagogue in Eugene.

Since his release from jail after that incident, Eugene Antifa and others have alleged that Laskey is tied to American Front, a white supremacist group, though he has denied these claims.

Laskey has claimed that he no longer associates with white supremacists since his stint in prison, but rather refers to himself as an “anti-antifa supremacist.” He was featured in an EW cover story on antifa in Lane County, published in October 2017, in which he talks about his clashes with antifa and anti-fascists in general.

After that story was published, Laskey claims he and others burned and trashed copies of the paper. He sent a video of the burning to EW through the Wolfclan YouTube channel, though it was later deleted.

After that, news of Laskey did not resurface until January’s stabbing incident.

According to Lane County court records, Laskey was set for trial in front of a 12-person jury on Sept. 11, but pled guilty to his charges on Sept. 10.

Laskey was convicted of the Class A misdemeanor of assault in the fourth degree and the Class C felony of unlawful use of a weapon. He was originally charged with another misdemeanor of criminal trespass, though that charge was dismissed.

Eugene Weekly

Classic excuse given to court by Newcastle fan after match incident

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September 12, 2018
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Appearing in court, this Newcastle fan claims he was forced to leap out of the away end at Huddersfield…

Newcastle fan Reece Smailes has been up in court after an incident that happened towards the end of the Huddersfield match earlier this month.

When Dwight Gayle walked the third Newcastle goal in, the United fan in question jumped over the barrier at the front and was then arrested in the area between pitch and away end.

The 24 year old pleading guilty to a charge under the Football Offences Act 1991 of going onto the playing area during a designated match.

In his defence/mitigation, he said that he’d had no choice but to leap over the barrier…because his recently done Newcastle United tattoo was sore from being pushed against by celebrating fans.

When searched by Police, they also found a bag of cocaine which he said was for personal use.

Magistrates were told that Smailes was previously given a three year Football Banning Order following an incident in 2011 when he punched a West Bromwich Albion fan.

The prosecution were asking for another banning order to be put in place.

Prosecutor Shamaila Qureshi:

“He was seen jumping over the safety barrier onto an area around the playing surface and raising his arms.

“As soon as he got to the area near the pitch he was arrested.”

“He admitted going into the banned area and said that this was to prevent being pushed against the safety barriers.

“The defendant said that he got pushed to the front and was concerned as he’d just had a large tattoo done.

“It was sore and hurt and he jumped over the barrier.”

Rachel Sharpe defending/in mitigation:

“The defendant was being shoved up against the barrier and then jumped over it to prevent discomfort having had a new tattoo.

“He ran towards the pitch but stopped himself before entering the pitch.

“This was in the last minute of the game when Newcastle scored and he was celebrating.

“He didn’t encroach into the pitch as he knows he shouldn’t and was quickly apprehended.”

The Magistrates did not make a Football Banning order but did order the Newcastle fan to pay a total of £484 plus £85 court costs and £32 victim surcharge.

The Mag

Attacker admits Sunderland airshow violence

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September 12, 2018
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A DAD and son were beaten unconscious on the way home from a day out at Sunderland Airshow.

Thomas and David Surtees had been on a trip with relatives, including the family’s 86-year-old great-grandfather and a new baby, to watch the seafront displays when they were attacked without reason.

Newcastle Crown Court heard Thomas Surtees’ face and head were kicked and stamped on, leaving him with a serious nose injury which required surgery and may never be fully fixed.

His son David was punched and kicked and left covered in cuts and bruises.

Prosecutor Christopher Rose told the court the attackers had initially shouted abuse at the family before the violence started last July.

He said: “David recalls being kicked from behind. He was knocked to the ground and while on the floor he was kicked and punched until he lost consciousness. His father Thomas tried to intervene and he himself was attacked.

“He was either kicked or stamped to the face, and suffered a significant injury to his nose which involved the internal dorsal collapsing.”

Thomas Allen, of Wylam Grove, Hendon, admitted causing grievous bodily harm and assault.

The court heard he had Mr Surtees Snr’s blood on his shoes when he was arrested.

The 25-year-old also admitted causing grievous bodily harm to a woman, whose arm was broken when a brick was thrown at her, after violence flared in Borough Road after the Tyne-Wear derby in January.

Judge Roger Thorn sentenced him to a total of 32 months.

Stuart Halliday, 24, of Redwood Court, Sunderland, admitted affray on the basis he was with the group which carried out the attack on the Surtees family, but did not throw any punches or kicks.

He was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with probation supervision and programme requirements.

Judge Thorn said: “This was violence involving a group attack on a family unit, including a father and son, and more particularly a grandfather who was 86 and a young baby.

“There were women in that group. People are entitled to enjoy themselves and expect to have fun without any violence or apprehension of violence.

“This was the most disgraceful attack.”

Defence barristers said both men plan to stay out of trouble in future.

Sunderland Echo

From 2011

Man caught with weapon on Newcastle street for the third time warned he could go to jail

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September 9, 2018
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Jason Chrisp is facing prison after worried residents in Arthur’s Hill reported him shouting and swearing while holding an axe

A man is facing jail after being caught with a weapon in a Newcastle street for the third time in a decade.

Jason Chrisp, who has previous convictions for possessing a bottle of ammonia and a knife, was reported to police after concerned residents on Tamworth Road, in Arthur’s Hill, saw him “shouting and swearing” while holding an axe, a court heard.

Officers attended the scene on July 29 and searched the 29-year-old but, at first, no weapon was found.

However, drunk Chrisp soon confessed that he had been carrying an axe and disclosed that he’d hidden it under a nearby parked van, magistrates were told.

Now, Chrisp, of Gainsborough Grove, in Arthur’s Hill, has been warned he faces a prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.

Rebecca Gibson, prosecuting at North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, said; “Police attended Tamworth Road in relation to a report of a male walking up and down the street, shouting and swearing and holding an axe.

“A police officer arrives and he became aware of a male matching the description of the suspect.”

The court heard that Chrisp, who was behaving in an “animated manner” and had a cut to the back of his head, was immediately detained and searched but no weapon was found.

“After a short time, the defendant disclosed that he had been in possession of an axe in the street having been attacked by a group of males earlier that day,” Mrs Gibson added.

Chrisp then showed the officer where he’d hidden the weapon and he was arrested.

The court was told that Chrisp was convicted in 2007 of possessing ammonia in public and in 2012 of possessing a knife.

Because of his past convictions, magistrates deemed that their powers of sentence were insufficient and Chrisp was released on bail to next appear at Newcastle Crown Court on October 9.

Chrisp’s solicitor, Tony Malia, said that full mitigation would be heard on that occasion.

Newcastle Chronicle

Southampton ‘paedophile hunter’ jailed for false claim

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September 5, 2018
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Stephen Dure, also known as Stevie Trap, featured in a regional edition of a BBC Inside Out programme in 2017

Stephen Dure, also known as Stevie Trap, featured in a regional edition of a BBC Inside Out programme in 2017

A self-styled “paedophile hunter” has been jailed after admitting falsely accusing a man of grooming teenagers.

Stephen Dure, 34, also known as Stevie Trap, pleaded guilty to making an improper communication online at a hearing on Friday.

His wrongly-accused victim said he had been sacked and his home had been attacked as a result.

On Monday, Dure was sentenced to 15 weeks in prison. He was also ordered to pay costs of about £750.

Dure, from Southampton, said his online career might be over but his team would continue his work.

Dure appeared in a BBC Inside Out programme in 2017, when he explained how he posed as children on the internet to “trap” sex offenders.

His Facebook page, which shows videos of him confronting suspected paedophiles, has more than 200,000 followers.

Southampton Magistrates’ Court heard he had accused Paul Farhad, 42, of being a “violent psychopath” and a “massive danger to society” in a Facebook post in November 2017.

Mr Farhad, from Eastleigh, said 111,000 people had viewed the message, which he said also implied he was a paedophile.

As a result he lost his job, paint was sprayed on his door and a brick was thrown through his window, he told the court.

Alfred Underwood, defending, said Mr Dure accepted Mr Farhad was not a paedophile, which was “nowhere suggested” in the Facebook message read out in court.

The victim then produced a screenshot of the post on his mobile phone.

It showed the words “grooming teenagers” had been deleted from the original published message at some stage.

Dure then changed his plea to guilty.

BBC News